Thousands of people are set to descend on the Leicestershire village of Hallaton for its ancient annual bottle kicking event.

The quirky tradition involves rival teams from Hallaton and the neighbouring village of Medbourne, who battle each other to move barrels across two streams.

The rough and tumble contest, believed by some to have its roots in Roman times and to have been the inspiration for the game of rugby, will take place on Easter Monday.

The festivities will begin at 09.30 BST and will involve a parade of a hare pie at 13.45 before the contest starts at 14.45.

Phil Allan, chairman of the organising committee, said legend has it the event dates back 2,000 years.

Mr Allan, who has been involved in running the event for 51 years, said: “It might sound strange to some that an event held at Easter is that old, but we’ve got evidence to support that in the British Museum.

“There used to be a pagan goddess named Eostre and her name is believed to be origin of the word ‘Easter’ and was adopted when the Christians took over the pagan traditions.

“Eostre is fabled to have have had the ability to turn herself into a hare, which is why we make and serve the hare pie before the event.

Two hares are supplied by a local gamekeeper to go into the pie, which has been cooked by Mr Allan’s wife for the past 21 years.

The two villages of Hallaton and Medbourne each have a stream and the object of the game is to move a ‘bottle’ which is effectively a small barrel of beer, to the other side of one of the streams.

“We have three bottles or barrels and play the best of three,” Mr Allan said. “But the rules are fairly simple, there aren’t any rules.

“The winning team gets to take the bottles onto the village green and drink them at the end – to the victor, the spoils.

“It’s an event like the Gloucestershire cheese rolling or the Ashbourne Shovetide football, only our event is older and the grand-daddy of them all. “

Leicestershire County Council has put a number of road closures in place for the event, which will be in effect from 10.30 to 18.15.

Both High Street and Eastgate will be closed entirely for the event, while Churchgate will be shut between its junctions with Eastgate and Cranoe Road.

Cranoe Road itself will be inaccessible for its entire length, North End will close from its junction with High Street while Melbourne Road will shut between its junctions with North End and Hallaton Road.