World record portion of chips
Weighing in at 988lb (448kg), the huge box was filled by five
staff from the Fish and Chip Shop at Adventure Island, Essex who battered the previous
record.
It took them just three hours and 50 minutes to peel, cut, deep fry and package
the spuds on their way to breaking the previous record of 812lb (368.5kg).
On Wednesday 29th June they carried on to reach the new target in four hours
and 20 minutes.
Gregg Smith, 27, the head of catering for the park, had the idea for the record
attempt.
He was joined in the feat by his old schoolfriend James Gibbs, 27, the group
head of catering for a number of venues in Southend, including Adventure
Island. Barry Campney, 67, Sean Handley, 22, and Mr Smith's brother Tim
Rainbow, 18, completed the five-man team.
The clock started at 11am when the team started peeling locally sourced
potatoes in a special wet room and cut them in a chipper. From there they
ferried the raw chips to the four deep fat fryers and 14 frying baskets at the
Fish and Chip Shop.
Once cooked, the chips were tipped into a giant replica of the restaurant's
chip box - 54in (137cm) long, 46in (116cm) wide, 30in (75cm) high, and weighing
70.5lb (32kg). Guinness World Record rules dictated that the chips had to be
edible and safe, so the huge container had to meet health and safety
regulations.
After the record was broken, Mr Gibbs said: "It's absolutely fantastic.
It's taken a long while, many months to plan it. It's wonderful. It's something
that from when we were kids at school we used to dream about breaking a
Guinness World Record.''
Afterwards the huge pile of chips were sold for a £1 a portion to raise money for Bosom Pals, the breast cancer charity based at Southend Hospital.
The former chips record was set by Alan Williams of Mr Chips at Hereford
Racecourse in February 2004.
30 Jun 2011