IT is a peculiarly English clash of cultures.

On one side of the food counter, festival goers with all manner of exotic clothes, hair styles and piercings.

Frying sausages for them will be retired police officers, farmers, lawyers and local businessmen.

Since 1997, members of Didcot Rotary Club have taken on the task of catering at the annual Truck Festival at Steventon, which takes place this weekend and raises £20,000 each year for local and international causes.

With 5,000 revellers set to descend on Hill Farm, Steventon, it is punishing work for the small army of Rotarians more used to leisurely lunches, rounds of golf and board meetings.

Club president Brian Key, 73, who retired as Didcot’s police superintendent in 1988, said: “It started off in quite a small way, using our own chip fryers.

“Now it is a huge logistical operation that has got bigger and bigger over the years. We will cook two tonnes of chips over the weekend.

“We start early on Saturday morning and go through to 10pm, leaving the festival about midnight. Then we are back at 6am on Sunday doing bacon rolls and eggs.”

Some 90 Rotarians, including helpers from the Wantage and Faringdon branches, will oversee this weekend’s operation, serving soft drinks, fry-ups, burgers, and doughnuts.

Young Rotarians Oxford Spires will provide Indian food.

Using money raised at Truck last year, the group gave grants towards the Rotary international polio eradication campaign, ambulances in the developing world and provided Shelterboxes to earthquake victims in Haiti.

Closer to home, it supported Didcot Guides, the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal, the local Citizens Advice Bureau and the rebuild of Didcot Methodist church.

Mr Key said: “A lot of the kids do not look quite like we used to in our days, but we have found them very polite and they stand patiently in queues for quite a long time.

“Among us Rotarians, there is a mixed view about the music. You get the headbangers and not the sort of music we have grown up with, but there is good music out there.

“As long as people enjoy themselves, it is all good.”

Festival founder Robin Bennett said: “Normally at every other festival, you have commercial food companies, so, as far as I know, this is unique.

“It definitely does add something and both sets