The king of tall tales

The competition is all about telling "pork pies"

Bill Kirkham has been named the "World's Greatest Liar" at a tall tale-telling competition.

Mr Kirkham, from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, defeated five other fibbers for the title.

The competition was staged at Nottingham pub Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem on Thursday night.

The 55-year-old won the title with three tales about his time as a university drop-out in London.

The truth is usually a bit boring, so you have to embellish it a bit

Bill Kirkham

It is the second time Mr Kirkham has won the title, after winning the inaugural competition in 2000.

"I now have two certificates on the wall calling me the world's biggest liar, but I swear I am normally a quite honest person," he said.

'Bit boring'

An aspiring writer, Mr Kirkham said the secret to lying was to build upon true stories.

"The truth is usually a bit boring, so you have to embellish it a bit," he said.

"But you can't be too bizarre or it will be an obvious lie."

His stories this year centred on a fight with a drunken Scotsman, an ice-cream war in 1966 and a strange job he had at Harrods.