THE Christchurch cobbles will become a race track this Pancake Day as chefs, business people and local celebrities grab their frying pans for a race.

The event will take place on Shrove Tuesday, February 17, in Church Street and has been organised by the Christchurch Food Festival.

It will start at 10.30am and is in aid of the Christchurch Food Festival Education Trust.

Entrance fee for teams of four is just £20 while individual chefs are also being encouraged to enter for £5.

Last year’s event saw Halifax Bank taking the top team prize while Ludwig Spitzer, chef at Loch & Quay, won the individual chef event.

Vicki Hallam, chairman of the Food Festival committee, said: “We had great fun last year.

“It was amazing how competitive everyone was but we had to disqualify some team members as there was a bit of cheating going on with pancakes not being tossed enough.

“We’d love even more teams to get involved this year to join in the fun.

“We’ll also be using the pancake races to launch this year’s Festival which promises to be even better than previous years as we’ll be expanding down to Christchurch Quay with a new Festival Village in addition to the popular High Street market.”

Any teams wishing to enter the pancake races should contact the organiser Cheryl Davies by emailing cheryl@captains clubhotel.com This year’s Food Festival takes place on 9 and 10 May.