A SWINDON dad has added UK's Strongest Man to his clutch of titles.

At 6' 2", 26 stone and with a collar size of 23 inches, Laurence Shahlaei looks every inch the strongman.

The 34-year-old has broken at least 10 world records and won strongman titles on the European and world stage.

He has now added another trophy to his cabinet, storming to victory in the UK's Strongest Man competition.

The three-day event saw Laurence compete in front of thronging Belfast crowds.

The Purton dad-of-two even broke his own world record, shown in the video above, knocking a second off his record for carrying a yoke containing a 450kg weight along a gruelling 20 metre course in just 12 seconds.

He said: "It's always nice to break a world record. I went into the show as a favourite, but I didn't expect to break a record."

Laurence almost left Belfast without the title. In the last event on the weekend he picked up an injury - one that has seen him resting this week rather than getting straight back into the gym.

"I had to stop the last event and I didn't know whether I had done well enough overall to win," he said.

Last year, Laurence found fame after he beat Game of Thrones strongman Hafthor Bjornsson to become Europe's strongest man.

It was a huge feat for a man who started lifting weights at 21-years-old.

Laurence, who grew up in Cheltenham, was a sporty child - going from table tennis coach to one of the world's strongest man in less than 15 years.

He played rugby and athletics, before studying sports science at university in Gloucester.

"I was always very competitive. I liked having that sense of personal challenge from a very young age," he said.

"I used to be a table tennis coach, working with the national sides."

An injury to his knee cut short a promising rugby career. He instead worked as a personal trainer, while also bulking up for his strongman passion.

His success on the strongman circuit won Laurence a small role in the upcoming Kingsman spy movie sequel. But winning titles and TV fame hasn't stopped him from staying grounded.

Laurence's two eight-year-old daughters won't let him forget who's boss.

"The other kids [at their school] love me. My kids don't care," he said

But unlike some other dads, Laurence enjoys a spa day with wife Liz, saying: "You've got to pamper yourself now and again."

The fitness fanatic, who has to eat 6,000 calories a day, now has his sights set on the world's biggest prize.

He said: "At the moment I'm really training to win the World's Strongest Man title."