STUNTMAN and local celebrity Terry Cole is publicly claiming that he has an MBE, despite Buckingham Palace's insistence that he has never received the honour.

Mr Cole, who recently performed at the Walthamstow Festival, also says that he holds more than 200 world records.

But, according to the Guinness World Records, he currently holds just two.

The record breaker, who regularly performs hair-raising stunts to raise money for charities, bills himself as "simply the best" on his website, claiming he has "over 200 records worldwide" on his front page, and over 114 world records in a different part of the site.

But staff at Guinness World Records can find only two current records on their database and two which he used to hold.

When questioned by the Guardian, Mr Cole said that he did have an MBE.

"I got it about two years ago, for raising money for charity and doing good in the borough," he said, adding that he had gone to Buckingham Palace to receive the award from the Queen, with his mother.

But a spokeswoman at the Palace said that nobody with his name, or his full name Gathercole, had been given the honour.

When asked if he could produce his MBE medal, Mr Cole said his mother was looking after it for him.

Mr Cole was described as having his MBE - the Member of the Order of the British Empire - on this year's Walthamstow Festival programme.

Last year Mr Cole performed at Littlehampton's Town Show and was credited with an MBE on Littlehampton Town Council's website.

A spokesman said that he had been impressed by Mr Cole's act. He said the stuntman had told him he had an MBE and had broken more world records than anyone else.

"We just booked him as something different," he said. "He's actually a nice chap, although if you met him in a dark alley you'd run a mile."