They call him Dexterous Dean – and anyone taking a close look at his hands can see why.

For when record breaker extraordinaire Dean Gould shows you the back of his hands, you could be forgiven for thinking it was his palms. His double-jointed fingers bend backwards in the same way as other people’s bend forwards.

He is using this to good effect with his latest world record attempt, in which he will flip 200 beer mats off his elbow and then catch the foot-high pile on the back of his hand.

Father-of-three Mr Gould, of Church Road, Old Felixstowe, is aiming to break the record at Peewit Caravan Park on September 15 as part of a double celebration – to mark his 50th birthday and 30 years of record breaking.

He said: “I have held coin snatching records for many years – and I still hold the record for catching 328 ten-pence pieces off the elbow.

“But the difference is that the coins were caught in the palm of my hand.

“With this record with the beer mats I will be catching them on the back of my hand.”

He got the idea after watching his son Nathan playing with his mobile phone and catching it on the back of his hand.

Mr Gould said: “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. I tried 100 beer mats and that worked, then 150 and 200 and I think that’s quite a comfortable number to catch.

“It’s obviously a lot to do with the double-jointedness of my fingers but it’s also about flexibility, stance and several other factors and is not as easy as it might look.”

Mr Gould, who runs the Record Holders Republic official registry of world records, has held numerous different records over the past three decades – including speed eating, speed stamp licking, pancake tossing, winkle picking, beer mat snatching, memory feats, egg holding records, and composing the shortest games of draughts,

He currently holds 32 records.

It’s also very much a family activity – with his son Nathan holding a currant eating record; son Adam holding a blindfolded beer mat snatching record; daughter Amy a paper cutting record; and wife Natalie having made the largest pom pom.

He said: “It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years – I have really enjoyed record breaking and all the people I have met through it.”