A BOURNEMOUTH man has become a world powerlifting champion.

Lee Cutler, 32, achieved a 320 squat, 210 bench press and 302.5 dead lift yesterday at the World Powerlifting Championships held at the Bournemouth International Centre.

His results make him the 82.5 kilo world power lifting champion for the men’s section.

Speaking after his final lift, which he started but did not pursue, Lee said: “I’m happy. That last lift, I didn’t need it to win. I didn’t really fancy breaking my back for nothing! It was 322.5 kilos.”

The world power lifting championships continue at the BIC until Sunday He joked: “I’m going to go to the bar, not the one with weights on the end of it.”