It was all going so well. The plan had been made, the route determined and timing set.

But just as pub boss Chris Peach was getting ready to take on a Guinness World Record, he found out someone had beat him to it.

The 42-year-old was thwarted in his attempt to visit the most pubs in a 24-hour period.

The previous record had been set by Welshman Gareth Murphy in February when he stopped by 56 in Cardiff.

Chris, who runs The Spitfire in Kings Hill near West Malling, was determined to beat this by visiting 60 places.

The dad-of-three's plan was to start off at the Wetherspoon's outside London's St Pancras Station last Saturday.

He would then go to 59 pubs in the capital before coming home to Kent for a much-needed nap.

The final boozer would be his very own.

Such was the detailed planning which went into the attempt, Chris worked out he'd have a total of 7.5 minutes per pub.

The all-important bathroom breaks would be tactically taken every sixth location.

But before he could even get going, he was told 22-year-old Nathan Crimp had smashed the record just days before.

The Brighton resident had visited 67 pubs, although his record is yet to be verified.

Instead of cracking on with the attempt, which he is doing to raise money for his niece Amelia Rose, Chris went back to the drawing board.

He's now looking at increasing his tally to 70.

To break the record, Chris will need to have a 125ml drink at each pub, and will need two witnesses every four hours.

The drinks don't have to be alcoholic.

Regulars at his pub, who are going along to support him, have even offered to pay the £500 fee for the officiator to follow them around.

He said: "I have delayed my attempt until October 29 because of the new attempt. I am confident I will be smashing the record.

"It’s definitely going to be a challenge but I’m just glad the new record was announced last week rather than after the challenge, because then it would have been tragic."

His new route will include the strip of pubs outside of London Victoria station, and as it is so close to Halloween he is planning to go in fancy dress.

Explaining how he felt when he heard the record had been broken, he said: "I was gutted, I'm still sceptical about the other record but it was absolutely gutting to hear."

Chris has run the Spitfire since 2015, before which he worked at the Boathouse pub in Yalding, and the Manor Farm Barn, in Southfleet.