A Penryn man devoured a half kilo of pastry, meat and vegetables to be crowned the world’s fastest Cornish pasty eating champion – possibly.

Chris Da Rocha won the contest, held at the Number 20 bar in Penryn as part of the first Penryn Beer, Cider and Pasty Festival. He ate the pastry in a record time of two minutes and 32 seconds.

He said: “It feels awesome, really good. Thanks to all the guys in the pub who were cheering me on.”

Bar owner Ed presented Chris and runner-up Rich Kimberley with T-shirts to mark their achievements.

He said: “It’s the first world pasty eating championship in Penryn, arranged with the Thirsty Scholar as part of the first cider, ale and pasty festival which we hope to be holding every year.

“These two will be wearing their T-shirts with pride as the fastest pasty eaters in Penryn, if not the world.”

He added that while there have been competitions for the number of pasties eaten, the festival’s organisers are unaware of any other speed based contest, and thanked Proper Cornish , the company that provided the 510g pasties.