Hundreds of people turned up to a US park for a heated pool noodle brawl to find out who is the rightful owner of the name Josh.

A 22-year-old named Josh Swain came up with the idea for the funny fight when boredom set in during the COVID pandemic a year ago.

The student from Arizona messaged other people named Josh on social media and challenged them to a duel.

That idea became reality when people turned up in droves at Air Park in Nebraska – a location chosen at random – to participate in the silliness on Saturday.

The festivities kicked off with a “gruelling and righteous battle of rock, paper, scissors” between the Josh Swain from Arizona and another Josh Swain from Omaha, Nebraska.

The Arizona student is reported to have won the competition, allowing him to claim the title of the true Josh Swain.

The subsequent pool noodle competition was open to anyone with the forename Josh and featured fighters in Jedi robes and Spider-Man spandex, among other suitably gladiatorial outfits.

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The winner of that competition was a four-year-old, who was coronated with a Burger King crown.

Mr Swain, the organiser, said he was surprised about how his idea blew up, adding: “I did not expect people to be as adamant about this as they are right now.”