JOHN BATTY has taken his power-lifting on to a new level after breaking the Commonwealth and British records.

The 38-year-old Darlington man lifted 265.5kg at the South Yorkshire Championships in Yorkshire last weekend - beating the previous record of 265kg.

Batty has now firmly established himself as the finest Bench Press champion this country has ever seen, and he is now switching his attentions to the World Championships which take place in Luxembourg in December.

The poweful Batty, who does not work as he suffers from menieres disease, said: "I was delighted to lift that weight.

"I've been British champion on many occasions but to clinchthe record was that little bit more special.

"I'm not getting any younger but even though I've done this I'm now hoping to win a few more medals. And next for me is the World Championships." The Yorkshire-born man competes for the Yorkshire and North-East Weightlifting Association and he trains on the bench press twice a week to try to keep at the top of his form.