Chef Gareth Kyle beats world record for non-stop cooking Published duration 17 August 2014

image caption Gareth Kyle won the 2011 Masterchef Live cook-off in London

A Newcastle chef believes he has set a new world record for the longest cooking demonstration.

Gareth Kyle, from Sunniside, cooked non-stop for 41 hours as part of the NewcastleGateshead food festival, EAT!

The 31-year-old winner of 2011 Masterchef Live at London Olympia said it had been "gruelling" and like a "weird dream".

The attempt was filmed and witnessed and is awaiting official verification from Guinness World Records.

The current record is 40 hours.

image caption Many of the 102 dishes were taken to the city's homelessness charity The People's Kitchen

"The toughest thing wasn't the tiredness of wanting to be asleep," Kyle said. "It was the aches and pains in my back and my legs of actually just being on my feet and cooking for that length of time."

He said he had a "dark time" on Saturday afternoon when he was "really struggling".

Kyle saved up his permitted hourly 5 minute breaks to take an hour off every 12 hours, but did not sleep at all.

To comply with the rules, the demonstration had to be recorded, watched by two witnesses and the food eaten.

Kyle stopped cooking shortly after 21:30 BST on Saturday, having begun at 04:30 on Friday.

"By the time I'd hit the record I thought, you know, I could keep doing this. I could keep going for another three or four hours, maybe see how long I can keep going," he said.