SWINDON Harrier Howard Moscrop shaved more than a second off his own world record at the British Masters Track & Field Championships in Birmingham on Saturday.

Moscrop clocked an incredible 56.56 seconds for the M50 (over 50s) 400m hurdles to obliterate the competition in far from ideal conditions at Alexander Stadium.

It was the second time in three months Moscrop had broken the record, smashing his previous best time of 57.68 set at Walton in April.

The maths teacher from St Josephs now holds the two fastest times in Masters history, ahead of American Jack Greenwood, whose old record of 58.10 had stood for more than 32 years.

"I thought I was in shape to run 57 seconds, so to dip under that time was very pleasing," said Moscrop.

"It was quite blustery so the conditions were not ideal. I had to play around with the stride pattern a fair bit.

"My family was there so I wanted to put on a good performance for them. My enthusiasm levels went up a notch.

"I thought in April when I first broke the record that I was capable of going faster."

Moscrop's performance was an exercise in technical perfection, the 50-year-old bounding out of the blocks to take a stranglehold on the race.

With a combination of slick hurdling and a strong stride pattern he entered the home straight well clear.

Unsurprisingly, his run was later declared performance of the meeting.

With the European Seniors Championships in Slovenia just three weeks away, Moscrop will be among the favourites for the gold.

But the man from Old Town is determined not to put too much pressure on himself, and enjoy his major championship swan song.

He said: "I don't want to overtrain before the Europeans, I think it's just a case of fine tuning now.

"The difference is that this is not a one-off race. There are heats to come through, so you can't use up all your energy too soon.

"It's difficult because the nature of the 400m hurdles dictates how quick you are going to go.

"I'm in reasonably good nick though and I'm really looking forward to it. I think this will be my last major championships so it would be nice to go out with a bang."

Another Harrier to claim a medal was Ken Jackson, 53, from Wootton Bassett in the M50 long jump where, despite having a niggling calf problem, he leapt to 5m 43cm to take bronze. The winning jump came from world indoor champion Trevor Wade of Thames Valley Harriers.