A unusual competition has been launched to find the farmworker with the strongest body odour - to protect crops of sweetcorn from badgers.

Judges from supermarket chain Tesco will conduct the sniff tests before announcing the Badger Protector of the Year later this year.

The competition marks the start of the UK sweetcorn season and behind the fun lies a serious purpose, Tesco says.

It has been proven that natural human scent can deter badgers and protect fields of ripening corn from the protected species, which can easily ruin up to 40% of a crop.

The animals have been known to attack sweetcorn fields more than 10 miles away from their set, lured by the sugary smell of the sweetcorn.

The company's strict environmental code means that farmers are always searching for natural ways of controlling pests.

Four years ago farm owner Peter Barfoot came up with a novel badger-repellent - smelly human beings.

He had noticed that badgers never attacked corn where workers had been harvesting the crop and, one evening, asked a team of workers to walk through a field of ripening corn before dark.

Next morning the crop remained untouched and the method has been used ever since.

Mr Barfoot explained: ''Natural human scent keeps the badgers away. Simply walking along the rows of sweetcorn protects the crop, you don't even have to touch the plants.

''It's an ideal way to protect our crops, being environmentally-friendly, natural and safe for badgers too.

''In reality you don't have to be smelly for the process to work. Even the small amount of sweat present on every human being is enough to keep the badgers away.

''Holding the competition gives our workers a bit of fun. From what I know already there are quite a few strong contenders for the overall title.''