A man who made what he thought was a successful bid to become the holder of the title of Pancake Day Pancake Consumption Champion has had his effort ruled out, after it was discovered that he had completed the challenge one day too soon!
Pancake Day, as almost everyone in Britain knows, is on Shrove Tuesday, which, this year, fell on February the 25th, but, for some reason best known to himself, Ron Hurley commenced his mammoth task 24 hours in advance on Monday - the 24th.
Ron's long-suffering wife, Judy, mixed the pancake batter, and his daughter, Philippa, tossed the pancakes, leaving Ron to consume them - more than 200 - on his way to the record.
Later, however, it emerged that Ron had made his howler.
The International Pancake Consumption Record Eating Statistics Syndicate (IPCRESS), however, refused to ratify Ron's attempt, and said that only pancakes eaten on Shrove Tuesday could be counted towards attempts on the record.
Ron was gutted, but he put on a brave face, and said:
"I don't know how the mix-up over the date happened. I'm disappointed, of course, but I'll be back next year to give it another shot!"
Judy laughed:
"He's a silly old bastard!"
