Anthony CarrollSome might class it as the sporting equivalent of watching paint dry.Anthony Carroll

Some might class it as the sporting equivalent of watching paint dry.

But live coverage of the slow moving action at the Acle Indoor Bowls Club has gained a fascinated global audience - thanks to the power of the internet.

As members of the club at Acle, near Great Yarmouth, sedately propel their jacks and gently prowl the rinks they are being shown live around the world through four webcams.

It is believed that Acle is the first indoor club in the world to set up webcams broadcasting live continuous footage of games.

Since the cameras, which cover three rinks and a scoreboard, started operating at the beginning of the year more than 14,000 separate web hits have been recorded.

Club secretary Denis Goodley said: 'Some of the members do wave to the webcams as they play but they

soon forget they are on as the games go on.

'The webcams have been a great success in letting people sit at home and watching our members play.

'As a club we always thinking ahead and we are proud to think we are the first indoor bowls club in the world to set up live web cams.'

The webcam live footage can be viewed by logging onto www.acle-indoor-bowls.org.uk