ANYONE feeling particularly peckish today, Pancake Day, could take on a peculiar challenge at one restaurant near York.

The Pancake Problem, at Hickory’s Road House on the A64 in Flaxton, challenges diners to take on a two-foot tall mountain of buttermilk pancakes, ice cream, berries and syrup in just 90 minutes. The Shrove Tuesday challenge to eat the four pound stack has only been completed once in more than 2,000 attempts.

Sarah Thompson, restaurant owner, said: “I spent a lot of time travelling in the States and visited many fantastic little diners, nearly all of which had their own food challenge, and I thought I had never seen anything like it here.”

The Pancake Problem is joined on the restaurant’s menu by challenges including Slidergeddon – 12 mini burgers, a pound of fries and a large milkshake in 40 minutes – and the Six Pound Burger Challenge, which is two pounds of beef, one pound of bread, two pounds of skinny fries and a pound of onion rings.

Sally Duffin, a nutritional therapist, said pancakes were best enjoyed in moderation, and eating four pounds of them could lead to problems.

She said: “You’re going to get side-effects of the sugar rush. Most people will get an energy high followed by a real low feeling afterwards, a drop in energy levels and a real slump.

“When you have sugar like that, your body has to release a massive amount of insulin to cope with it.”