Bosses at pizza outlet Pappa Luigi staged a speed-eating contest and a pizza-eating endurance test in Cathedral Square as part of a string of activities held to mark the launch of Peterborough business trustourtrades.com.

Owner of Lincoln Road-based Pappa Luigi Stefan Malajny said: "It was fantastic fun and we were really buoyed up with the arrival of loads of football fans after Peterborough's game against Leeds United.

He said: "We had eight contestants for the speed-eating contest. The test was to eat a 12-inch cheese and tomato pizza as quickly as possible.

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"The winner was Peter Woodward in a time of eight minutes, 43 seconds. It was some way short of the world record, which stands at two minutes, 50 seconds but still a good performance."

Speed eating was followed by the endurance contest, which involved eight contestants eating as many 12 inch cheese and tomato pizzas as possible in an hour.

Mr Malajny said: "Most gave up shortly after one pizza. The winner was Al Strutt, who is better known as Tom the Bear, the mascot for hockey team Peterborough Phantoms. He managed to eat two pizzas."

Alongside the pizza feast was a host of other entertainments including live performances by Peterborough band Mesh29, Darren Richardson from Heatfix and Pat Barker from Bluebell Blinds. There was also face painting for children and a chance to meet Bob the Builder.

Launching trustourtrades.com, director Eileen Le Voi said: "When looking for a reputable tradesman, 98 per cent of the population within the UK rely on personal recommendations.

"Picking tradesman from a directory is often a lottery, but with trustour- trades.com we offer complete peace of mind as all our members have been CRB checked, are highly recommended, vetted and approved and have agreed to comply with our service charter. They are also confident enough to be accountable for their work, as customers can rate them; these ratings and comments will be published on the website for other consumers to see."