A MAIZE maze was the setting for a competition that saw entrants gnawing on piles of corn on the cob in a bid to be crowned the UK's Sweetcorn Eating Champion.

The annual event took place at York Maze on Saturday (August 15) and the eventual winner was 28-year-old Scott Powell from Castleford, near Leeds, who consumed 10 cobs in 12 minutes.

However he failed to break the world record of 46 ears of corn set by American Jammin' Joe LaRue in 2010, so missed out on a £1,000 prize - but he did take home a trophy and £100.

He said, “I’m delighted to win but after that I don’t think I’ll be eating corn on the cob for a while. To be honest I prefer sweetcorn, I find corn on the cob gets stuck in your teeth - but I may well enter again next year.”

York Maze owner Tom Pearcy said: “As the UK’s biggest maze made out of maize plants, also know as corn, its fitting that we should host the UK Sweetcorn Eating championships.

"We saw some impressive corn action with a variety of techniques on display. However despite some valiant efforts it appears there was no danger of the world record being broken. American Jammin’ Joe LaRue's record of 46 ears of corn set in 2010 still stands.”

The UK Sweetcorn Eating championship was held as part of York Maze’s annual Sweetcorn Festival. Children were also able to enter the challenge to eat a single corn-on-the-cob in the fastest time. There was live music and the opportunity to eat corn cooked in various ways.