York farmer makes giant Walkers advert on Whenby potato farm

Walkers farmer, Tim Rodwell, who farms at Whenby near Sheriff Hutton just outside York, helped the crisp manufacturer carefully create its ‘biggest’ billboard to date, in a potato field.

Walkers say the 73,532 square foot artwork rivals the biggest billboard in the world, which stands at 67,382 square feet, and is big enough to be seen from space.

Tim in the advert (Image: Walkers)

It reads ‘Great Taste Starts Here’ alongside the outline of a packet of Walkers crisps.

Tim said: “I am incredibly lucky to have grown up on a farm, and now I am proudly farming potatoes for Walkers.

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"It’s not every day that you get to use potato crops to make a giant message for Britain.”

The ad is thought to be among the largest in the world (Image: Walkers)

Rachael Smith from Walkers, said: “At Walkers, we care about our farms and farmers because we care about our delicious crisps.

"We are committed to using sustainable practices that protect the environment, as we know the best quality crisps start with the best quality potatoes.

"That's why we couldn't be prouder of this unusual collaboration and resulting ‘cropvert’ that communicates this message to the nation.”

An aerial image shows the scale of the project (Image: Walkers)

The ‘cropvert’ - as the company is calling it - was created to champion the quality of the sustainably grown, 100 per cent British potatoes.

Some fo the details picked out (Image: Walkers)

Tim and his team have hand-clipped 30,000 potato plants into the firm's biggest and most unusual advertising campaign to date.

He was part of a small group of Walkers’ potato growers who pulled off the cropvert just before the top-quality potatoes were harvested and sent off in pristine condition to be turned into delicious packets of Walkers crisps.

By using just hand tools, the team were also able to ensure no potatoes were harmed along the way.