John Batteye repeated a fantastic weight-lifting feat with another top ten place finish at the World Bench Press Championship in New Zealand - despite suffering from menieres disease.

The Darlington-based weight-lifter battles daily against the disease but John's constant training paid off when he achieved his aim of a top ten finish earlier this month.

The condition means John is subjected to severe attacks of vertigo which means he suffers from extreme dizziness, vomiting and periods of deafness.

But hard work in the gym for the last 18 months put John on the road to the prestigious event where he finished eighth, a position he managed at the same championships some years ago.

"I was really pleased to finish eighth because down there I was competing against the world's best and I'd been aiming for the top ten" said John.

"I didn't want any of the judges to know about the condition because your lifts have to be judged and I didn't want any favours off them.

"I was fine over there because it's the middle of summer."

John also achieved a new personal best of 520lb, 29lb more than his previous record which he set as recently as August at the European Championships.

"I'm just mixing with the right people now," he explained. "Talking and training with really good weight-lifters, exchanging techniques.

"I'd like to go back to the World Championships but it depends how well I do over the next year."