The 10,000 Calorie Burger is an enormous burger feast that has been credited with transforming a sleepy country pub into an internet sensation.  The Farmers Arms, in Burscough, West Lancashire, had dabbled with social media in the past – getting about 200 hits per post. But when manager Phil Martin decided to challenge regulars with the ‘Haystack’ burger, posting a picture of the meal on Facebook, it got 2.5 million hits. People from across the world called the pub, asking if they could take on the gut-busting 10,000-calorie challenge, which remains undefeated since its creation.

Phil, 35, said: “I can’t believe how crazy everyone has gone for the 10,000 Calorie Burger , we’ve had countless emails and phone calls from across the world of people asking too have a go at it. People have been getting in touch from France, Germany, Finland and even Australia – many people seemed to think we might be a chain and were asking if the burger was coming to their country. I can’t believe how quickly it took off. I uploaded a picture one night and when I woke up it was in six figures. By the end of the day it was well over a million. We’re a quiet country pub with a real mix of people. One of our biggest sellers is a pint of mild, which doesn’t even sell well in many pubs. So it’s all come as a bit of a shock. I think what caught people’s attention was the sheer size of it – it does look particularly big, even as food challenges go.”

The 10,000 Calorie Burger includes a 40oz beef burger – the size of 10 quarter pounder burgers – eight rashers of bacon, eight onion rings, melted cheddar cheese, baby gem lettuce, tomato and gherkins. It all comes on a giant bun almost a foot wide, specially made for the challenge, which is why the Farmers Arms needs 24 hours’ notice from anyone hoping to take on the challenge. As if that wasn’t enough, on the side is two pounds of skinny fries, a pound of coleslaw and a vanilla milkshake to wash it down with. If the challenger can polish off the whole lot within 40 minutes then they get their 25.95 refunded, getting the ‘meal’ for free. So far, only eight have tried the challenge and all have failed but Phil says people are now planning trips from across the UK and beyond to take on the 10,000 Calorie Burger.

Phil said: “No one has even got close to it yet – not even half way through. An Australian lad called Jonny who has beaten numerous steak eating challenges back at home gave it a good go but he fell short.

Paul said: “It was really tough – it’s quite scary when it gets presented to you, just because it’s just so wide, it’s very intimidating. “Its definitely do-able but I tackled it wrong – I tried eating it in bits which meant I would have eaten all the bun on its own. I also hate coleslaw, which didn’t help! “I think beating the bun is one of the key things – maybe the secret is to use the milkshake to soften it up. Who knows.”