Their occupations range from optician and primary school teacher to a bank cashier.

But their passion for circus skills has brought them together in a thriving club.

They may be called the Yokel Jugglers but the synchronised throwing and catching of clubs is far from their only speciality.

Members number diabolo, plate spinning, stilts, hula hooping, unicycling and poi as among their repertoire.

They've even been booked for a wedding where they will entertain and teach guests their art forms.

Having recently celebrated their fourth birthday, member Louise Elms, of Yeovil, explained how it all started.

"There were three or four people practising in a park along Preston Road and they happened to come across each other and got to know each other," she said. "They decided it would be good to get together and practice regularly. More members joined through word of mouth."

The group now has around 20 members, one of whom, Ben Morgan of South Perrott, came second in the British Young Juggler of the Year competition in 2009.

The 17-year-old, a pupil at Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester, took up the diabolo around seven years ago at a scout camp.

He said when he first approached the Yokels with a view to joining, the organisers were nervous about accepting someone so young. But when they saw what he could do, they signed him up.

"I am the sort of person who will practise and practise something," he said. "I am quite methodical and I like to take something that's difficult and persevere with it."

The club's members have performed at scores of festivals, parties and fetes.

Despite their increasing skills, they remain an amateur, non-profit organisation. Any money made goes straight back into the group to buy new equipment and pay for rehearsal venues.

Graham Cox, 25, from Yeovil, has been with the group for three years and said he sees it as "a bunch of fun people enjoying each other's company".

Unsurprisingly, he said it's their fire shows that really heat up the audience.

"It's quite dangerous, but we use paraffin which burns at a lower temperature," Graham said. "You still don't want to catch the wrong end though. You can certainly feel the heat when you do and hair does tend to burn on our arms.

"It's more confidence than skill. It's a very different feel when juggling with fire, but it's more a psychological thing with the fear that it might burn you.

"I started juggling fire only three weeks after being able to juggle clubs, but for other people it may take longer."