A NEW world record in football freestyling was achieved at High Chelmer shopping centre.
Dan Magness entertained crowds in the city centre with his sixth successful world record attempt by bouncing a ball on his shoulders 1,021 times in 20 minutes, beating his previous record of 950.
The 30-year-old, who has exchanged tricks with professional Lionel Messi and starred in a television advert with the star, said: "It's not an easy thing to do, to bounce a ball on your shoulders. To be honest, very few people can do this, because it's really tough – although I did previously lose my record to somebody else.
"I beat him though, when I did 950 – and it's great to have a new world record as high as this."
The touring event was put on by Essex-based lawn-care company GreenThumb and also featured a retro VW camper van as it travels across the county.
Brian Kempster, the company's business adviser, said: "Dan's skills are amazing. There was a large crowd gathered to watch him in the attempt, around 200.
"We counted him down to start it and then he bounced the ball from one shoulder to the next, while the crowd cheered and counted along. There was a great reaction when he beat his previous record and then finally stopped at 1,021, and bounced it high into the air."
Dan, who now presents Football Freestyler on Sky Sports, already holds the record for the longest 'keepie-uppie' after keeping a ball in the air for 26 hours without dropping it, the most amount of 'around the world' tricks in one minute, and the longest distance controlling a football for which he walked 36 miles.
He has also worked with international sports stars such as Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Francesco Totti, Roberto Carlos, Djibril Cisse and Freddie Ljungberg, teaching them his skills.
"It was really good to beat my previous total by so much, it all went perfectly to plan, with no false starts – that's why they call me one-take Dan," he added.
