A terminally-ill man has set a record-breaking speed for an electric wheelchair despite being virtually paralysed from the neck down.

Jason Liversidge, who has motor neurone disease, set a new UK time trial record of 59.064 mph during a practice session at Elvington Airfield, near York.

This is part of his attempt on the 62mph target set by Guinness to establish a new world record, his team said.

Mr Liversidge’s wife Liz watched the session on Tuesday.

Asked how she felt when her husband said he would make the attempt, she said: “Honestly, I thought he was crazy.

“But Jason has always been a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

“He loved fast motorbikes when he was well. He’s skied all his life.

“He can’t ride motorbikes now and he can’t drive a car, so for him it seems a practical solution.”

Mrs Liversidge, from Skirlaugh, near Hull, said: “Jason’s terminally ill. He’s got advanced motor neurone disease. He is pretty much paralysed from the neck down.

“For anyone to do it would be pushing the limit. So he’s pushing it to the extreme of what’s possible.”