HARRY’S in Blackburn hosted a man versus dessert challenge for charity.

The popular takeaway and dessert venue based on Johnson Street invited three of the “biggest eaters” in Blackburn to see if they could finish a monster dessert.

Each contestant was hoping to raise funds for their respective charities. Taking part were Mohammed Shafiq, Tasleem Fazal (Tassy), who was representing Connect UK for the East Lancashire Hospice and Kamran who was representing Team Nelson.

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Shabaz Iqbal of Harry’s Takeaway and Dessert Bar said: “One of my friends has been diagnosed with cell cancer so it inspired me to do a charitable event.”

The challenge was to finish the dessert in the quickest time.

Shabaz who is known as Baz to his friends said: “The dessert is called Baz’s Burj Khalifa and is made-up of five waffles, strawberry, banana, fresh cream, ice-cream, Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate sauce and marsh mellows.

“We know you have to have one big appetite to finish it and many have tired and failed the challenge already.

“It is the first time we have held this event and it proved to be big hit.

“A special thank you to my wife, Safina for making the dessert. And thank you to all the contenders for taking part.

“It was also pleasing to see so many people here to watch the challenge and donate to a good cause.”

The winner on the day was Mohammed Shafiq, 47, who took 10 minutes and 54 seconds to plough through the monster dessert. He managed to clean his plate and beat the other two contestants.

He told us: “It was a slow start but with the support of the crowd I showed them how it is done.

“The difficult part was the waffles, which slowed me down.

“The rest was fine. The ice-cream and the fruit wasn’t too bad. It is a heavy dessert all round though and looks tougher to finish than one might think.”

A total of £130 was raised for the Masjid-e-Aqsa project in Jerusalem, which was Shafiq’s chosen charity.

“It was all for a good cause and I would like to thank Harry’s and the all those who donated for their support.”