Super stackers take part in pancake competition

Sublime stackers and terrific tower-makers have been taking part in the UK's first-ever pancake stacking championships.

The competition was held on 1 March in Olney, Buckinghamshire - home to what is said to be the oldest annual pancake race in the world.

The new championships aim to "widen the net and give everyone the opportunity to become a pancake champion", organisers said, as only women are eligible to compete in the yearly Shrove Tuesday race.

The inaugural stacking competition was won by Lucas Willmore from Tring, Hertfordshire.

This year's Olney pancake race will take place on 4 March, with the new contest whetting fans' appetites and offering entrants the chance to show off their stacking skills.

The competition, which consisted of four initial rounds with stackers battling it out all the way to grand finale, was attended by people from across the UK who queued to get into the event.

In an interview with BBC Three Counties Radio, organiser Steven May said contestants received "100 pancakes to the side" and had to "stack them up into the biggest tower you can make in 30 seconds".

"The Guinness World Record for a pancake stack is more than 400, just to put it into perspective," he added.

Folklore says the Olney pancake race tradition started in the 15th Century when a harassed housewife, rushing to attend church on Shrove Tuesday, ran to the service with a frying pan still in her hand.

Dubbed the oldest recorded in the world, the run dates back to 1445 and the War of the Roses, and has taken place every year since it was revived in 1948.

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