A FITNESS fanatic is attempting to ‘burpee’ his way to a new world record to raise funds for his village.

David Whitlock, of Blewbury, near Didcot, will try to better the current world record for number of burpees completed in 12 hours next month.

The 36-year-old has to do more than 4,545 of the exercises, which involve squatting from a standing position before kicking up your legs and ending in an upright position again.

The personal trainer, who runs his own fitness company, said: “I’m really looking forward to this. I’ve been training for months now. I’ve already done thousands of burpees.”

Mr Whitlock will attempt the feat on April 29 in Blewbury village hall.

He is aiming to raise money to refurbish the hall itself and support the village pre-school group.

Residents are seeking to raise about £500,000 to upgrade the building at the village hall and install new facilities.

Father-of-two Mr Whitlock added: “The record is secondary, really.

“Both Blewbury Pre-School and Blewbury Village Hall are at the heart of our community.

“I use the village hall regularly for my fitness classes, and I want to do what I can to support the refurbishment plan that is already in place for it.

“By supporting the pre-school group I hope I can help ensure that future generations of Blewburians can go there.”

The record-breaking attempt will begin at 6am in the morning and run until 6pm at night and Mr Whitlock wants people to come and support him.

He said: “I’d love for people to come and support me or even do some burpees alongside me.

“It’s going to be really tough, so I know the support of the community will help get me through.

“Please feel free to bring down any jellied sweets or snack as I will be burning about 8,000 calories over the challenge so fuel is going to be vital.”

For more information and to donate to the fundraising total see justgiving.com/crowdfunding/davedoesburpees