Teenager grasps top Rubik's title

Breandan Vallance was crowned world champion at the weekend

A Scottish student has beaten hundreds of rivals to be crowned the Rubik's cube world champion.

Breandan Vallance, 17, of Beith, in Ayrshire, secured the title at the weekend at Dusseldorf in Germany.

His average solving time for the puzzle was just 10.74 seconds which ensured he walked off with the 5,000 euro prize for the overall winner.

After clinching his title, he commented: "I knew I was good, but it's great to know how good."

It was the fifth edition of the world championships, which is staged every two years.

The Scottish teenager saw off competitors from 32 countries to take the prize.

He takes over the world champion title from Yu Nakajima of Japan who won the 2007 event in Budapest.

Contestants also entered events to solve the cube one-handed, blindfolded and with their feet.

However, it was the young Scot who proved quickest at traditional "speedcubing".

Hungarian architect Erno Rubik invented the cube in Hungary in 1974. More than 300 million cubes have been sold since.