A BIZARRE bid for a Hallowe’en world record is being made at a York adventure park – after nearly being scuppered by red tape.

The owners of The Farmer’s Cart, at Towthorpe, have set up a giant catapult, known as a trebuchet, and crowds have been gathering during the half-term break to see how far it can hurl pumpkins towards a truck which is acting as the target.

But arrangements for the exercise, part of the venue’s Pumpkin Festival, hit a snag when a model of the medieval contraption, which was sent from the US to allow a larger version to be built at the site, was held up at customs because of concerns it could be a weapon.

Edward Sykes, one of the business’ partners, said a £30 fee had to be handed over before the model could be sent on, and now his father Geoff has been taking charge of the pumpkin-propelling fun, which began last Saturday and runs until this Sunday at the Piglets Adventure Park at The Farmer’s Cart.

The longest distance travelled by a pumpkin will be submitted to the Guinness Book Of Records to assess whether it warrants inclusion, as no official UK record is currently recorded. The world record is more than 2,000ft and was set at the Pumpkin Chunkin World Championships in Delaware, where The Farmer’s Cart got the trebuchet inspiration from, in 2009.

So far, the furthest a four-kilo pumpkin has been catapulted at Piglets is about 260ft, but Edward said: “Children who have come along are having great fun and they love to see the pumpkins being splattered, and we had about 1,400 people through the gates in one day this week.

“It was a bit of a surprise that we had trouble with customs getting the model here, but it’s something different which we have added to the festival this year along with the Hallowe’en rides, the corn cannon, pumpkin-picking and our animal trail.”

More information about the festival is available at thefarmerscart.co.uk