A man has quit his job so that he can focus on breaking the world record for the highest number of selfies taken of himself, according to local media in India.

Bhanu Prakash Racha, who lives in the city of Hyderabad, stepped down from his post as a research assistant at a local hospital so that he could practice taking the photographs.

“I wanted to focus on breaking the record,” he told the Times of India newspaper.

“I worked there for five months. But when my application got accepted, I decided to quit. My work hours were 10 am to 6 pm and that wouldn't leave me much time for practice.”

The 24-year-old wants to break a record set by Americans football player Patrick Peterson, who is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as having taken 1,449 selfies in a single hour.

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Mr Racha says he should be able to take 1,800 selfies at a planned event at a shopping centre on 18 September.

The former researcher says he first took an interest in taking the photographs en masse after finding out about the NFL player’s record-breaking attempt.