Im-press-ive!

Sandy, aged 40, has completed an astounding 125 press-ups in 60 seconds -- beating the record by five.

His victory was all the more impressive as it was in the artificial surroundings of a Granada TV studio -- with the extra pressure of being watch by hundreds of thousands of viewers on live TV.

Today, Paul Strang, who counted Sandy's press-ups, said: "He was a bit nervous before he went on. But then if he hadn't have been pumped up he might not have done it.

"As it turned out, he broke the record twice in his practice sessions.

"He is still over-the-moon about it. We are just completing the official forms but there shouldn't be a problem in having it officiated by the Guinness Book of Records."

The previous record was held by a marine commander.

And the extra publicity generated by the successful record attempt should mean Sandy will smash the £600 target -- the money he hoped to get for stricken Bolton toddler Nathan Howarth, aged two.

Earlier in the day, Sandy and friend Mick Roberts proved they are made of stern stuff when they completed 3,000 sit-ups and press-ups in just 59 minutes.

The two keep fit fanatics raised more than £600 for Nathan during their sponsored session in which Sandy, who runs Bolton Thai Boxing Club, had pledged to double the number of press-up and sit-ups completed by Mick.

Mick, who has been training at the Brown Street club for 12 months, managed to notch-up 1,000 of each.

Sandy easily doubled this figure after 22-years of training and was still feeling as fresh in preparation for his World Record breaking attempt later that evening live on Granada Reports.

After his amazing feat, he said: "Physically, I felt fine but I had butterflies before going on TV.

"I'm very proud of Mick for managing to do so many press-ups and sit-ups when he hasn't been training for that long."

Nathan suffers from a rare and potentially fatal genetic disorder.

His parents are trying to raise cash to pay for specialist treatment in America.