POWERLIFTING police officer Simon Lythgoe had the force with him as he broke a world record bench pressing weight at an event held in Weston-Super-Mare.

Simon, 44, who grew up on the Island, set a new record of 231kg, beating the previous one by half a kilo, which had stood since 2012 and set by former Aussie rugby star, Alistair Murdoch.

After he failed on his 225kg second lift of the national single lift event, Simon decided to give the record a go on his third and final lift and, in doing so, defended his national bench press title to win the Bench Press Trophy as best lifter for the second year running.

Simon will be focusing on the World Full Power Championships in Glasgow in November.