Westminster goes flipping mad for London Bridge charity

The now traditional Shrove Tuesday event held on College Green in support of Rehab UK, Britain's leading brain injury charity, saw teams of Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs as well as peers beaten to the finish line by a BBC team taking part in the event for the first time (and for this race, ably supported by Lord Drayson).

Among the MPs and peers taking part were Labour's Jim Dobbin and Lindsay Hoyle, Conservative Nigel Waterson and Bob Russell (LIB DEM Colchester). Competitors from the Lords included Baroness Scott and Lord McNally.

The surprise victory by the BBC aroused controversy when some of the losing teams, showing clear signs of pre-election jitters, attempted to overturn the result.

Although the Labour team officially came in second, the Liberal Democrats accused the runners-up of several violations of the rules – citing the Labour team's failure to toss each pancake the required number of times during the race. Lib Dem Edward Davey joked that his team was considering pressing Sir John Hannam, a Trustee of Rehab UK and clerk of the course, for an inquiry.

In further finishing line incident Lord McNally alleged he had been kicked and Baroness Massey of Darwen claimed she was pushed over by an unidentified competitor. Sir John said he would investigate the allegations with BBC Sports personality and horse racing commentator Clare Balding, who, as a Rehab UK vice-president, was the official starter.

Rehab UK's London Brain Injury Centre is in St Thomas' Street.