Making mincemeat of the competition

This is why it's great to be British - because we host such events as the World Pie Eating Championships.

Barry Rigby took the honours by scoffing a meat-and-potato pie in 43 seconds at the Wigan venue.

"I am a big pie fan," he later told the press. "I eat between 10 and 20 a week at least."

The pies are 12 centimetres wide by 3.5 centimetres deep and must have a 66 percent meat content.

But the competition, which started in 1992, did not pass off without controversy, as this report in The Guardian explains.