The Weston & Worle News team never turn down a challenge - even if it is a little less glamorous than pole dancing.
Daniel Auge, the owner of two McDonald's franchises in Weston and Worle, invited them to work an hour's shift, and of course they agreed, as Vicki explains...

After being kitted out in McDonald's cap, apron and polo shirt, we were ready to have a go.

Believe me, it's not as easy as you think.

The kitchen is split in to different work stations - such as the fries, grill, and chicken not to mention the tills and lobby duties.

There are several deep fat frying machines, grills, hot plates and trays to keep the food warm, bins to throw any waste in and an area to wash your hands.

There is even a machine to measure out the right amount of fries for the cooking baskets.

Any food which has been sitting out for longer than it should has to be thrown away. Nothing is left to chance when it come to hygiene.

Before we were sent to our stations, Daniel promptly expelled the myth that burgers are flipped, they are in fact grilled on both sides.

Wenna, sporting a fetching hair net under her cap, was ready to make burgers, while news editor Juliet got stuck in with the chicken burgers and I opted for fries - big mistake.

... While Wenna tackles the burgers

Not only was I on display for customers to see me making a fool of myself, I had to do it alone as Wenna and Juliet were safely tucked away behind the scenes.

I was shown the technique for filling the differently sized fries packets and after a while it started to become a bit easier - until the fries ran out and I had to cook some more.

By the end of the hour I began to get the hang of it.

Wenna took a turn at serving customers on the till and Juliet took over from me making fries.

Wenna said: "Making burgers was actually a lot harder than I expected.

"I love eating them, but hadn't realised how difficult it was to make them.

"Everyone was very friendly, and it was really interesting to see the burgers are salted before serving, and they aren't flipped.

"I had fun on the tills as well - I even got to make a milkshake. The tills were a bit easier to cope with as I had done shop work before.

"I actually really enjoyed the experience, but I don't think I will be making a career change."

Juliet said: "I didn't realise there was so much to learn. Everything is so hygienic as well, you have to wash your hands every 30 minutes. I was quite impressed.

"The staff all had a sort of code for calling out the orders which had to be explained to me otherwise they could have ended up with anything."

So, would we swap our hectic careers as reporters and news editor to work in McDonald's? I don't think so, it is much more hectic and a lot harder than it looks.

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail pastill@nep.co.uk