A GROUP of strangers-turned-friends spent last month chasing each other around a town as part of a large game of tag.

Following in the footsteps of the popular movie Tag from 2018, the group got together to take part in a town-wide game of the well-known children’s game.

The idea to make the game a reality originated from Witham resident Lee Hagger’s podcast, Chew the Fat.

He said: “I had a friend on the show who saw the film, and we thought it would be fun to organise our own version of it.

“We put it out there on the show and got a nice response, and over a period of eight weeks, we got the players together.

“We honestly thought it would fall flat, but after three days it exploded, and we had people chasing each other everywhere.”

The rules were discussed, and included things like two-hour cooldowns after tags, not going to homes after 10pm and before 6am, and if you work with someone in the game you cannot tag them during work hours.

Lee added: “People actually took it so seriously it was hilarious, and there were some amazing highlights.

“You had people waking up at 4am and waiting outside houses, hiding in alleys, there was a tag in a churchyard at a christening, someone was caught in the shower naked, postmen were chased, it was crazy.

“It acted as a sort of escapism from everyday life during the three-week game.

“I actually ended up losing on Halloween as I got tagged at the last minute.”

Whilee the group did not know each other before the game, Lee said they made good friends from the experience and will consider doing it again.

He said: “We didn’t know each other beforehand, so it was a great way to meet more people, make friends in the community and interact with the public who listen to the show.

“It is just cool to do something fun like this in times like this, we had sons and daughters seeing mums and dads running around like kids, it showed we can still have fun.”