A toothless dad has smashed a Guinness World Record for eating three pickled eggs in the quickest time.

Terry Nugent, 56, didn’t crack under the pressure as he cleared his plate in an impressive 22.35 seconds – easily beating the current 34.5-second record.

Unemployed Terry, of Stone Street in Petham, has always had a passion for the vinegary snack, but decided to hatch a plan and scrambled the Gazette to cover his unusual record attempt.

The father-of-one said: “I’ve eaten pickled eggs ever since I can remember.

“When I was about five or six, my dad would come home from the pub and give me a packet of salt and vinegar crisps and a couple of pickled eggs.

“About two years ago I decided to have a go at the world record and the first time I did it was in 30 seconds, and every time I did it I got faster and faster.”

The official record is held by Kyle Thomas Moyer, from Pennsylvania in the USA, who set the target in November 2013.

There are seven strict rules each competitor must follow to avoid disqualification, including no drinking during the challenge, showing your mouth is empty after each egg and not touching the eggs before the start of the attempt.

The seventh rule recommends that contestants should not attempt the challenge multiple times, but Terry says that would not have fazed him as he often eats 15 a day.

Terry, who is originally from Carlisle, says lots of his friends did not believe there was such a record and laughed off his eggs-traordinary talents.

But he says his efforts are for one person only.

He said: “I haven’t got a lot in life, but I’ve got a son in Leeds and it would be nice to do something more for him and for him to be able to say ‘my dad has beaten a world record’.”

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