A WORLD record holder was beaten in his attempt to bag his 50th gong for beermat flipping by a stage actress.

Dean Gould, 54, holds 49 world records, predominantly relating to the number of beermats he can flip within the space of a few minutes.

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Record holder - Dean Gould in the Townhouse Bar and Kitchen

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Caught! - Mr Gould, from Felixstowe, was hoping to bag his 50th record

Mr Gould, from Felixstowe, was hoping to bag his 50th record at the Townhouse Bar and Kitchen in Westcliff, on Tuesday.

However, he faced competition from the cast of The Full Monty stage play, which is running in Southend every night this week until Saturday.

The play, based on the hit British 1997 comedy, tells the story of six unemployed men, four of them former steel workers, who decide to form a male striptease act in order to gather enough money to get somewhere else in life and for main character, Gaz, to be able to see his son.

Whilst Mr Gould managed to get his 49th record by flipping 49 beermats on top of each other in two minutes, it was actress Liz Carney who took home the record for the fastest to flip ten mats one at a time.

Ms Carney, who plays the character Jean in the play, flipped the mats in 15.67 seconds.

Mr Gould said: “The event went really, really well and it was such a good time for all.

“Liz was the one that beat me to my 50th, she was absolutely great.

“I’m obviously a bit disappointed that I couldn’t secure it on the day, but looking back on everything, I hold 49 world records, so I have to take that as a massive plus.

“I’m really pleased that Liz got it as she more than deserved it, and she’ll be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.”

Mr Gould has spent a lot of time down in Southend, and has carried out many of his record attempts with Louis Emerick, a British actor known for starring as PC Walsh in Last of the Summer Wine, with whom he is friends.

Mr Emerick plays Horse in The Full Monty, and Mr Gould did not want to pass up the opportunity to go against him again.

He added: “I’ve known Louis for a long time now and we tried many records together, so when he said he was in Southend I didn’t want to say no, plus it was a chance to meet the full cast of the play.

“I’m hoping to do another world record attempt in a few weeks’ time so I can reach the big 50th milestone.

“I don’t know what it will be yet, I’ll have to see what I can come up with.”

The Full Monty is playing at the Cliffs Pavilion until Saturday.

For tickets, visit southendtheatres.org.uk/online/tickets-the-full-monty-southend-2019.

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Have a go? - plenty of people stepped up to have a try

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