Plucky diners square up in challenge to polish off cafe's 5,000-calorie ultimate breakfast

But two men bravely rose to the Herculean challenge of the Fawley Cafe’s ultimate breakfast.

Five competitors before them had attempted it. All had failed.

The eating machines, renowned locally for their huge appetites, pulled up to the breakfast table to gorge on an astonishing 5,000 calories of full English.

Peter Hurley, 58, who has run the Calshot Road cafe for the past year, came up with the challenge after a 14-year-old “totally demolished” the previous biggest breakfast on his menu – the Fisherman’s.

The result was a stomach-bulging £15 platter that dwarfs even the legendary breakfast US swimmer Phelps, 27, devours to feed his 12,000 calorie-a-day performance diet.

Peter’s breakfast challenge consists of six rashers of bacon, six sausages, half a dozen fried eggs, double portions of baked beans, mushrooms and tomatoes, two quarter-pound burgers, a large portion of chunky chips, bubble and squeak, black pudding, two rounds of toast, fried bread and bread andbutter.

Phil Hurley, 33, a catering manager from Fawley, who loves his Sunday roasts, and Johnny Franklin, 23, a curry-mad jobseeker from Calshot, squared up across the table in front of an audience of well-wishers to guzzle down the food.

But after a promising start the pace began to slow, then came the burps and belches, the sweats and queasiness.

With 20 minutes remaining they had equalled the previous best, demolishing three-quarters of the plate. But it was too much for Phil, who dashed for the loo with eight minutes to go.

Johnny rubbed his belly and ploughed on, encouraged by his supporters, but he too had to quit with four minutes left on the clock. He said: “It was hard. But I’m just full up.”

Peter said: “They both did brilliantly. They cleared over three-quarters of the plate. There are not many people that can do that. The thing that kills you is the bread, and the fact the plate never seems to empty.”