James' giant peach would actually need 2,425,907 seagulls

Roald Dahl may famously have written that it took 501 seagulls to help James fly the Giant Peach – but a group of physics students have concluded that the actual figure would be a lot more.

Calculations by Emily Jane Watkinson, Maria-Theresia Walach, Daniel Staab and Zach Rogerson show a total of 2,425,907 seagulls would be needed to lift the peach into the air.

The University of Leicester fourth year physics students were inspired to use the childhood tale, which has delighted youngsters across the world since it was first published in the 1960s, as the basis for a scientific paper.

The story sees a young boy named James embarking on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean on a magical peach, the size of a small house.