BOLTON bakers have created what they believe is the world’s biggest hot cross bun.

The huge bun, created by Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery, weighs a whopping 169kg and measures a massive 8ft in diameter.

It is more than 60 kg heavier than one made by the “currant” World Record holder — SASKO bakeries in South Africa.

The Guinness World Record adjudicators have visited the bakery this week and Greenhalgh bosses are sending off the paperwork to have it verified.

A special pan, which was 8.5ft wide, had to be brought in from Vent Heat Engineering in Bury, and the huge bun was baked in Greenhalgh’s 9.5ft oven.

It took two hours to cook — a normal bun takes 10 minutes.

The bakery was asked to create the massive bun by the RSPB to celebrate events and activities taking place at its reserves across the country this Easter.

It was unveiled at Saltholme wildlife reserve in Teesside and the pan will be used as a birdbath — once the bun has been eaten.

David Smart, Greenhalgh’s production director, said: “As a family craft bakery, we are used to handcrafting delicious bespoke items, but this was one of the most unusual requests yet.

“We were delighted to be tested on such a large scale and to help achieve a notable world record while assisting a worthwhile charity.

We hope to have the whole UK tweeting about this, not only the Saltholme birds.”

Bread manager Stuart Hartlebury and his team of bakers created the mammoth bun and spent four weeks planning how to create it.

Ben Calvert, from RSPB Saltholme, said: “We weren’t sure we were going to be able to pull it off, but (fingers crossed) we’ve gone and broken the world record.”

SASKO bakeries baked a 103kg hot cross bun, which was almost 6ft wide.