Man Vs Food in Burnley (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Man Vs Food in Burnley

2:25pm Saturday 23rd June 2012 in Burnley

FEAST your eyes on this!

Around 25 diners tackled a belly-busting grill featuring two whopping 12oz burgers at a Burnley pub for charity.

The Man Vs Food eating contest was staged at the Thornton Arms to raise cash to develop firefighting techniques and equipment in developing countries.

Each competitor was served up a mega burger topped with melted cheese, bacon, a hash brown, two breaded chicken fillets and a serving of chilli, all in one bun. And if that wasn't enough, they had to polish it off a portion of chips and six onion rings.

The contest was to finish in the fastest time, with time deducted for those who chose to eat from a side plate containing ‘hot and ‘superhot’ chicken wings.

Chris Dean, 22, was declared the winner, finishing his meal in 17minutes and 10seconds.

Hot on his heels was Rawtenstall's Vincent Paul, who finished just three tenths of a second behind.

Manchester firefighter Peter Griffiths, from Whitefield, was third on 22 minutes.

The trio were the only three contestants to finish the entire meal.

Organiser Dylan Carter, from Burnley, who is a firefighter in Greater Manchester Fire Service, said the event raised £600 for firefighting charity Operation Florian.

He said: “It was an amazing event. I’m so grateful to everyone who took part and who donated raffle prizes.

“People were loving it on the night and it was a nail biting finish.”

Winner Chris was awarded a trophy to mark his victory and also won the same burger meal once a month for the next 12 months.

He said: “It was hard work, but I tackled the burgers first because I knew they‘d be hardest. The atmosphere was amazing, much more exciting than I thought it would be. I have the greatest respect for firefighting and just thought it was a really good cause.

“I’ll be taking full advantage of my prize every month — if only to show people what I can do.”