Britain Cooks up World's Biggest Portion of Chips

Fish and chips-loving Britain celebrated its devotion to the national dish on Wednesday by cooking the world's biggest-ever portion of chips.

The Fish and Chip Shop at the Adventure Island fun park in Southend-on-Sea, east of London, cooked up 448 kilos (988 pounds) of chips, piled up inside a giant box.

Five staff took four hours and 20 minutes to cut the potatoes, deep fry the chips and box them up, battering the Guinness World Record of 368.5 kilos (812 pounds) set in 2004.

The box had to be a super-sized version of the regular chip boxes to meet food hygiene standards.

Organisers have put together an evidence pack to send to Guinness and get their new record confirmed.

"You have to present it in the container that it would normally be presented in," Adventure Island spokeswoman Tracy Jones told Agence France Presse.

"It was hot work. We did it all from scratch. The previous record was done with frozen chips.

"There was a really good atmosphere. Loads of people turned up. The biggest problem was stopping children putting their hands in and taking the chips before we were finished."

Visitors to the seaside resort could buy a cone of chips for one pound ($1.60, 1.10 euros), with the money going to charity. Any leftovers will be fed to pigs.

"Having a fish supper on the seafront is part and parcel of a fantastic tradition that we want to celebrate," said Adventure Island chief executive Philip Miller said.

"I really hope we have reminded everybody how our national dish should and used to taste."

The fun park already holds the world records for the most naked people on a roller coaster (102 people, set last August) and the longest dodgem car marathon (26 hours in May).