Apple dookers make record attempt

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A town in the Scottish Borders is preparing a world-record bid for the traditional Halloween pastime of dooking (or bobbing) for apples.

It is hoped 500 people will take part in the event in Peebles on 1 November.

The local fire brigade has been put on stand-by to help fill up hundreds of basins with water.

A spokesman for Guinness World Records said it had a record for most apples bobbed by an individual but no equivalent for group-dooking.

Event organisers decided to make the official record bid during the town's week-long Halloween Festival.

Schools and sports clubs have already signed up for the effort.

Individual record

Local trader Euan Carr said he hoped as many as 500 dookers would turn up for the challenge at the Gytes Leisure Centre on 1 November.

Damien Field from Guinness World Records said that, if successful, the Peebles attempt could be a new entry in its books.

He said: "We monitor a category for 'Most people apple bobbing', but don't currently have a record for it.

"The record for the most apples bobbed by an individual in one minute is 33 and was achieved by Ashrita Furman in New York on 19 February 2008."