Last updated at 12:24, Saturday, 25 October 2008

Aspatria's Tommy Mattinson is sitting pretty this week as he became a world record breaker at pulling faces.

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Tommy, 41, has long been known as the face of Egremont Crab Fair, and his 11th victory at the World Gurning Championships at the weekend earned him a place in crab fair history and the Guinness Book of Records.

Hundreds of people packed into Egremont Market Hall to witness the Aspatria glazier’s landmark victory on Saturday, where he defeated 15 other contestants.

The 41-year-old sealed victory with an eye-watering display performed to Wham’s I’m Your Man.

Tommy said: “I am really happy, chuffed to bits. I have broken all of the records. It is unbelievable.”

Gurning is a Mattinson family tradition. Tommy’s father, Gordon, is a former World Gurning Champion.

It caps a memorable year for Tommy, who pulled his famous face to entertain the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on their visit to West Cumbria earlier this year.

Tommy was first crowned world gurning champion in 1987. He defended his title the next year and won, but then did not appear in the competition for 10 years.

He made his comeback in 1998 and his success ever since has led to numerous TV appearances, including an all-expenses-paid week in Hollywood courtesy of American TV show Tonight With Jay Leno.

Tommy is married to Wendy and they have two children, Ross and Devonne.

This year’s crab fair got national television coverage with Cumbrian-born Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton in town to film for the BBC children’s programme.

First published at 19:48, Thursday, 25 September 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk