AN 8ft bun may not have been exactly what the average bird watcher expected to find on a trip to an RSPB centre yesterday.

But there is no doubt the 105kg hot cross bun – officially the biggest created – made an positive impression at the RSPB’s Saltholme nature reserve, near Billingham, when it was unveiled.

“We’ve had people grabbing handfuls, stuffing crazy paving style chunks in handbags, the lot, and there’s still three quarters of it left,” said Ben Calvert, visitor and promotions officer at Saltholme.

“We wanted something to say, ‘Easter’ to help us promote all that we’ve got here with our cafe, indoor facilities and everything, and came up with this.

“The actual bun came late because it was held up in the snowy conditions on the lorry but that’s worked well because we couldn’t get it inside, it was so big, so we needed the better weather in the afternoon to stop it getting soggy. It’s cut up and inside now so visitors can come and get stuck in over the next couple of days.”

The bun was baked at Greenhalgh’s bakery in Bolton, the nearest bakery big enough to make it. The wet dough was weighed there, in accordance with Guinness Book of Records rules, and it beat the old record bun baked in South Africa. Photographs also helped prove it was more than 200 times the size of a standard hot cross bun.

Saltholme is also hosting a range of other familyfriendly activities over Easter, including a watering can safari, meadow patch planting and the Dig This competition trail.

For more information about Saltholme and for details of all its Easter activities, visit rspb.org.uk/reserves/ saltholme