REPORTER Jeremy Culley can never resist a challenge. So when he was asked to take part in a mammoth burger eating contest, he accepted on the spot. But did our Jeremy bite off more than he could chew...

IN this battle of man versus food, it was a victory for... food.

The Triple Bypass Burger challenge at the Farmer's Arms in Darcy Lever proved too much even for this hungry reporter.

Jon Jones, the 34-year-old mastermind of the heart-stopping challenge, has devised a task even TV's Adam Richman would find tricky.

Layered on a bun were three 100 per cent beef burgers, three fried chicken burgers, with rashers of bacon and cheese on each burger.

As if that salivating meat feast was not enough, Jon's Triple Bypass beast forces participants to down an entire basket of cheesy fries.

It was all far too much for me, although such was the scale of the task, I was strangely proud at polishing off the mammoth burger within the strict 20 minutes you are given to finish the task.

Sadly, two thirds of the mound of chips remained, ensuring I did not get my picture on the Farmer's Arm's Hall of Fame, or the T-shirt afforded to winners.

Someone out there in Bolton will surely have a chance, though, and emerge victorious in a true Dave Man versus Food style showdown.

Jon said: "People are always asking us to do a burger challenge, and it is just something for a bit of fun. We just had a think on what you can do for a bit of a laugh.

"It is not something we would recommend people eat every week, it's not serious it's a one-off challenge."

Jon was a pastry chef and has a 16-year history in food and the highlights of his fare at the Farmer's Arms are the range of burgers.

The pub, the former local of Fred Dibnah, offers the Steeplejack as the biggest burger on the regular menu.

Beef, chicken, bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce and onion rings, it is a mere third of the Triple Bypass beast.

Jon has been at the Farmer's for only 18 months but this is the third eating gauntlet thrown down to punters.

His previous challenges were a 48-oz steak challenge and a mission to eat 20 hot-wings without water, before waiting 10 minutes without having a drink.

Participants even have to sign a disclaimer saying the pub is absolved of responsibility if the worst comes to the worst.

Jon said: "It's about getting a group of people in, all egging each other on. You'll get one doing it and they'll say 'if I can do it, you've got to do it'.

"We had a big group all lined up in the corner doing the hotwings once. It was chaotic, one guy got some in his eye and it swelled up.

"A girl in the group won and she was in such a state, I felt a bit sorry for her. Not too much, though, as it was hilarious."

And on my effort, he added: "I think that was a fair effort. To get the burger done and a third of the chips done is pretty good.

"You're the first person to try it and you had me worried after five minutes or so before you slowed down. "