This year’s Evesham Festival on the Warwickshire Avon in August will see the use of bloodworm and joker trialled for all three final days and two of the qualifier weekends.

The controversial bait has previously only been allowed in the Match Fishing Team Championship on Bank Holiday Monday, and for the past few years it’s been the only bait that has worked for roach, a species many anglers thought had vanished after the severe floods in 2007.

Last season’s Team Championship winner Hadrian Whittle was delighted with the news that the bait will be allowed. He said: “The festival last year, on a low river, saw just 2lb frame on the Sunday yet there were roach to be caught everywhere once bloodworm and joker went in on the Monday. I think it’s a really progressive move by the organisers to allow the bait, and hopefully the few anglers who are currently being negative about it will see its potential and embrace it.â€