Shortage of male thongs sparks panic in Cork

A cheeky bid to break a body-painting world record led to panic buying in Cork yesterday after the city’s clothes stores sold out of men’s thongs.

More than 600 daring participants will strip down this morning at Cork’s Camden Palace Hotel and have their bodies painted in a bid to break a five-year record, set in the US.

Adjudicators from Guinness have issued strict instructions that those taking part remove all clothes except their underwear, before paint is applied to every part of their bodies.