IT’S a pastry picnic ‘snack’ like no other – and one that has divided The Adver’s readership this week in a way not witnessed since the Magic Roundabout’s white lines were first laid down.

But does the Morrisons £1 foot-long sausage roll live up to the hype that has seen it splashed across every national newspaper this week?

The supermarket said it had created the roll after customers had said that they wanted a bigger version of the British classic. Not ones to argue over pastry and meat, the northern retailer cooked-up the jumbo sausage roll which went on sale this week – leaving behind it a wake of amazement and disgust among Adver readers.

Billed as being a perfect addition to a picnic, shared with the family, or eaten by those with big appetites, seven Adver staff members skipped lunch today in a race against each other from one end of the Morrisons monstrosity to the other, in a bid to see whether it can be conquered by one man alone.

Taking up the challenge were features writer Barrie Hudson, assistant editor Steve Webb, reporter Joe Hook, chief sports writer Matthew Edwards, political reporter Chris Humphreys, display advertising manager Darren Jackson and media sales consultant Paul Murphy.

Each took a slightly different approach to tackling the beast as they went up against each other and the clock to take the title and everlasting office glory.

Mr Webb, a well-known stickler for etiquette, wouldn’t even begin without a napkin in place at his collar, while Mr Hudson took a slow-but steady approach, which on this occasion sadly didn’t see him win the race.

Mr Edwards, taking up the challenge on behalf of the sports desk, seemed to be streaking ahead to begin with after employing an interesting tactic of folding the roll in half. But this proved heavy going as the race progressed.

Mr Murphy opted for a ‘small but many’ mouthfuls approach, while football fan Mr Jackson showed that years in the stands have stood him in good stead as he gave the rest of the team a good run for their money.

But they were left in the dust behind Mr Humphreys, who finished with time to spare to sweep up the crumbs from the Morrisons tray in a time of 3 minutes, 47 seconds, with Mr Hook taking a respectable second place.

Speaking after clearing his mouth, and washing his hands, Mr Humphreys said: “It was harder than I expected, because the practice one that we sampled yesterday was softer and squidgier. But this one today had been cooked for longer and it was harder and crunchier, which made it more difficult to eat.

“I wish I could tell you what I tasted like, but I ate it so quickly I couldn’t.

“I was looking forward to the battle between sport and news, but unfortunately sport’s only representative dropped out part-way through, meaning that it was two from news who took the first two places.”

Mr Webb and Mr Hudson were believed to still be making their way through their sausage rolls when The Adver went to press.

  • The Advertiser paid for its own sausage rolls, which Morrisons at Dorcan Way was not aware were being bought for competition purposes