YORK has long proved a magnet for would-be world beaters, even before the area's giant onion bhaji barged its way into the Guinness Book of Records.

Chefs at the Jinnah Restaurant just off the A64 between York and Malton have learned that the 6.9lb "snack" they cooked up for national curry day last November has been officially named the world's biggest bhaji.

But they are not the first to try for a place in those hallowed pages, as local daredevils have tried to break records from breakneck speed to spud peeling.

Elvington airfield has a history of success and heroic failure for those chasing land speed records.

In 1990 a vintage Sunbeam Tiger clocked 157.44 mph, breaking a 64-year-old record of 152.33 mph for the same vehicle, and the speed record for an electric vehicle was equalled at the airstrip by a Sinclair C5 which managed 67 mph.

But the attempt in 1994 on the land speed record for a blind person by Ken Moss, the former North Yorkshire traffic policeman who lost his sight in an accident while chasing car thieves, was thwarted.

Last year there were no less than three record bids at Elvington - but only "Rocketman" Richard Brown succeeded, capturing the British two-wheeled record when he averaged 216.55 mph over two runs on his rocket-powered motorbike, despite his first attempt being halted by rain.

The weather also proved a problem in an attempt on the British four-wheeled record by the PrimeTime team in their jet car Vampire. And wind hampered Don Wales, grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell, to set a new UK standard for an electric car.

Speed though is not the only lure. A group of friends got together in 1993 to try to create a new record by peeling half a tonne of potatoes for charity in Selby town centre.

The same year pool champ Paul Sullivan, from Thorpe Willoughby, battled his way back into the Guinness Book of Records by sinking an incredible 16,497 balls in 24 hours.

Also in 1993 Riccall miners celebrated their pit smashing the European record for extracting two million tons of coal in just 36 weeks. And the next year Selby karate black belt Matt Wrigglesworth had 33 breeze blocks piled on his chest which were smashed with a sledgehammer to raise charity cash - a real record breaker.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.