Brewers kitesurf Channel with barrels of bread

Two kitesurfers from France are claiming two world firsts after crossing the English Channel, carrying barrels of bread on their backs.

Martin Marescaux, of Pain de Minuit brewery in Lille, and Theo Vanmarcke crossed from Portland, Dorset, to Cherbourg on Wednesday.

The men were carrying 36 dry loaves from a Dorset bakers which will be used for making blonde ale.

The say they are the first to cross that part of the Channel by kitesurf and the first to make a delivery across the world's busiest shipping channel.

The men set a time of 4hrs 30mins, which they believe is a first - and therefore a world record - for that route.

Mr Marescaux said: "We are tired but we are happy.

"We will make beer with the bread we collected and in eight weeks the beer will be ready."

Pain de Minuit usually recycles bread from bakeries across France for its brewing operation.

The team began planning the cross-channel challenge two years ago after Steve Oxford, owner of Dorset bakery chain Oxford's, offered them his unsold stock.

Mr Marescaux said: "At the beginning we said we couldn’t collect the bread because it was too far and, for the planet, it was better to put it in the trash – it’s sad but the logistics were too much.

"We reflected about it and we decided to ask the authorities to have the authorisation to collect the bread, kitesurfing, and to make these records.

"After two years, we have all the authorisations and we’ve done it."

Mr Oxford met the team on Chesil Beach on Wednesday morning with a consignment of his unsold sourdough bread.

He said: "They will make it into beer – 3,000 bottles of it – by fermenting the bread that I gave them.

"They’re kitesurfing with it - it’s absolutely crazy."

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].