A Chipping Norton-based horse rider said it is "a bit surreal" to have completed the Burghley Horse Trials for the second year running.

Tom Bird, 22, the youngest in the field at this year’s Lincolnshire 5* event, finished 33rd after dropping only three places from his debut effort last year.

He said: "I’m very pleased, proud of [his horse, Cowling Hot Gossip] to have finished, it’s a huge thing. I’m really pleased for Helen Kerry, who owns him with me."

He said the show jumping result "wasn’t quite what we planned" but "we know he’s not the finished product".

He added: "He struggles a little bit on the third day but I didn’t know how he was going to come out given how he jumped round the cross-country. It’s all learning for me and the main feeling is pride for him.”

Olympic champion Ros Canter topped the leader board, winning her first Burghley crown.

Bird said "it’s a bit surreal to be here still" after meeting Paul Tapner, someone he had grown up watching.

He added: “Both horses I’ve had here have given me a huge amount of invaluable experience and as the slightly more athletic and talented horses come through, I’ll have that bank of experience to draw on.”

Defender Burghley Horse Trials has been a major international sporting and social event for more than 50 years. It attracts the world's top equestrians and is attended by vast and enthusiastic crowds.