A TEAM of performance poets from Oxford have talked their way to the top spot in a national “poetry slam”.

The group – known as The Dreaming Liars – fought off lyrical challenges from Bristol and Glasgow to take the title at the Bristol Poetry Festival.

Team member and slam poet Pete Bearder, better known to Oxford audiences as “Pete the Temp”, said the atmosphere at the packed Arnolfini Theatre on the city’s waterfront had been fantastic. The team, also consisting of Mac McFadden, Tina Sederholm and Mark Niel – had three minutes to wow judges and audiences with rehearsed prose.

Mr Bearder’s slam, “Angry Pedestrian”, was based on experiences walking the streets of Oxford and invited the audience to stamp along to the poem.

The Dreaming Liars took the combined team event and team captain Mr Niel won the individual competition.

Mr Bearder added: “We’re really proud to have won it for Oxford.”

Oxford is the home of leading spoken word organisation Hammer and Tongue, and it was at one of its live events that The Dreaming Liars first met.

Mr Bearder said: “It’s often cloaked under a veil of English modesty, but people are competitive and take it very seriously.”