Two communities will today (Sun) settle a centuries-old dispute over the correct way to pronounce a river which runs through them - with a match of CROQUET.

The River Nene originates in Northamptonshire and runs for 100 miles through Cambridgeshire and Norfolk before flowing into The Wash.

But for generations there has been controversy over the way it is pronounced - locals in Northampton say “Nen” while 40 miles away in Peterborough they say “Neen”.

When a long-awaited local croquet derby was planned the two sides decided to up the stakes by making it a decider on the pronunciation.

The first side to win five games in today’s (Sun) match will claim the right for the river to be pronounced their way.

The origin of the Nene - the UK's 10th longest river - is unknown but its name has changed over the years; it has been called 'Nenn' or 'Nyn' during the course of history.

The losing team has agreed that their town will pronounce river's name in the winning team's way in all correspondence and public interviews.

However, they have plans to make it an annual tie - so the pronunciation could shift on a yearly basis.