THREE friends will battle it out on BBC hit Robot Wars with two machines made out of a beer keg.

Jonathan Swan, 64, Jme Anderson, 28, and John Frizell, 69, from Lewes, will appear on the show on Sunday with their robots The Kegs.

The friends decided to use Lewes’ most famous export as part of their design so asked Harvey’s Brewery if they had any unwanted kegs.

Mr Swan, who is a jeweller, said: “Beer kegs made of stainless steel are tough things.

“Harvey’s brewery gave us one and we went through three cutting discs just to slice it in half.”

Environmental activist Mr Frizell added: “We wanted to show what you can do with found materials.

“We like to build with recycled materials.”

The robots are classed by the show’s fans as clusterbots as they operate independently of each other to attack opponents.

Mr Frizell said that one keg is driven by industrial drills and the other by bicycle motors.

Both are armed with 10 kg blades, spinning at 150 mph.

Mr Anderson, who is also a jeweller, said: “The weapons scare us so much we have never tested them at full throttle.

“Let’s hope they scare our opponents too.”

Once they had constructed their machine the trio had to get up to Glasgow where the series is filmed.

Mr Anderson said: “It’s a long drive.

“Especially when you have three people and two robots with tools and spares in a four seat car.”

The trio is not the first to appear on the current series of Robot Wars with Brighton-based team The Swarm taking part in the first episode of the series.

The team of four included captain Ian Watts, 57, a university lecturer, schoolboy Sam Watts, 13, hat-maker and supplier Mike Hamilton-Macy and university student Ryan Pratt, 27.

This series features 30 teams battling it out to take the title, with a few old favourites alongside new teams fighting in the purpose-built bullet-proof Robot Wars arena in Glasgow.

Angela Scanlon, co-host alongside Dara O’Brien, said: “This series myself and Dara are much more involved in the action, we’re in the faces of competitors as they leave the arena, crying.

“We’re in the trenches showing viewers the destruction up close.

“We’re right in there, stuck in the action and hope that viewers will feel the energy that is so palpable in that warehouse.”

  • Robot Wars is on BBC2 on Sunday. Alternatively you can see the series on iPlayer.