ENDURANCE cyclist Mark Beaumont has set a British record for the furthest distance travelled on a penny farthing in an hour.

The 35-year-old, who was born in Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, covered 21.91 miles (35.2 kilometres) on the larger-than-life bicycle at the Herne Hill Velodrome in London on Friday. He beat the English record of 21.1 miles (34km), which was set in 1891 at the same location.

But he was shy of setting a new world record – which has stood for 132 years – by around around 300 yards (274 metres).