Walsall pinball wizard Wayne in world record bid

The Walsall Manor Hospital worker embarked on the marathon attempt at midday Saturday in the hospital's atrium.

More than 2,500 people from all over the world tuned into a live stream as the 43-year-old from Tamworth played on through the night until 6.10pm the following day.

During that time he clocked up 145 games scoring millions of points.

But while Mr Johns hopes Guinness will confirm he has broken the record within the next few weeks his main aim was to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK in honour of his father Bill, who is terminally ill with the disease and was there to cheer his son on.

Mr Johns told the Express & Star: "I was watching the London Marathon and everyone being interviewed was doing it for charity and the majority of them were doing it in memory of someone.

"I just thought why not do something while my dad was still here.

"I didn't really want to do a marathon as that would kill me so I thought I will play pinball."

The theatre equipment manager at the hospital first fell in love with pinball whilst studying mathematics at Sheffield University in his early 20s.

Within a few months of his first year Mr Johns was put in charge of a student common room which had a pinball machine. But it was not long before that took priority over his studies.

He said: "I first started playing in university. In the early 1990s pinball machines were in bars and all over the place.

"As time went on I wasn't going to lessons I was going on the rounds with the engineer to all of the halls and pubs seeing what machines they had."

But it was not until five years ago that he started taking up his old hobby more seriously.

Now he is the current West Midlands champion of the UK Pinball League and ranked third overall in the country.

He averaged 29.5 million points a game, whilst clocking up a staggering 396 million score in one particular game.

But the pinball wizard is more proud of the fact that he has raised more than £3,700 for the charity so far. He admitted the support kept him motivated.

"The hardest part was around 3.30am to 5am on Sunday as it was pitch black and most people had gone to bed but support kept me going. I always said that the most important thing wasn't breaking the world record but raising awareness of prostate cancer and thanks to everyone who sent me messages," said Wayne.

Proud father Bill, who travelled from his home in Wirral, Merseyside, for the event added: "I knew he'd do it, that stubborn streak is in his genes." Wayne is now in the process of formally applying to Guinness World Records by sending off witness statements and a copy of the video.

It will take around six weeks to determine if will be the new official record holder.

A spokesman from Guinness said: "The longest marathon playing pinball has been hotly contested over the years, but only one application has ever been successful – the record currently stands at 28 hours and has been held by Mr Alessandro Parisi from Australia since 2007.

"I can confirm that we have had an application from Mr Johns. We look forward to receiving his evidence and hopefully awarding a new Guinness World Records title."