A NEW board game released today sees the famous fowls of Ditchingham roundabout take a shopping trip into Bungay.The Chicken Roundabout Game is an updated version of Us Chickens, released in 2000, which was set on “chicken roundabout.

A NEW board game released today sees the famous fowls of Ditchingham roundabout take a shopping trip into Bungay.

The Chicken Roundabout Game is an updated version of Us Chickens, released in 2000, which was set on “chicken roundabout.”

In the new game the chickens leave the roundabout and go on a Christmas shopping spree around Bungay, where they can visit real shops in the town such as the Buttercross Tearooms, The Chocolate Box, and Hobbyhorse.

The object of the game is to have all four of your breeds of chickens standing at the Bungay Underground Town Station platform, with all of their shopping, ready to catch the next train back to the Roundabout Station.

There are cards with “why did the chicken cross the road” jokes on them, and turns are missed if you land on either the “hen-a-doodle loo” or the “cock-a-doodle-loo,” depending on the sex of the player.

The game is manufactured by the Bungay Games Factory, a company run by Bungay man Alan Gaskin.

When he launched the game nine years ago the chickens were somewhat in vogue, having hit the national press because the local authorities were trying to evict them.

The game has now been tweaked to involve local businesses, and there is a photograph and name of a Bungay shop or business on each of the board spaces that the chickens visit.

Gordon Knowles, who has spent 20 years feeding the famous fowls, appears on the front of the box, as well as on the board.

He said he was pleased to see the game re-launched. “A lot of people love the chickens,” he said. “It's a very good and quite interesting game.”

He said he started feeding the chickens after he saw them enjoying the contents of a bag of wheat that had fallen off a passing lorry. “A chap leant over his gate and said 'they think it's Christmas,'” explained Mr Knowles. “I said 'why can't it be Christmas everyday?' Maybe it was meant to be. Now I worry if they're alright!”

The game is available in The Chocolate Box, The Toy and Gift Emporium, and the library in Bungay from today . It will also be on sale at the Bungay Christmas market on Sunday. You can also order it by emailing bungaygamesfactory@talktalk.net or telephoning 01896 895454. It costs �15.