Britain’s oldest man, Bob Weighton, has become the oldest man in the world following the death of the previous holder of the title in Japan.

Chitetsu Watanabe is reported to have died at the age of 112 in Japan on Sunday just days after claiming his Guinness World Record certificate.

The position is now held by Weighton, from Alton in Hampshire, who was born in Hull on 29 March 1908.

Reacting to the news, Weighton, a former teacher and engineer who still lives in his own flat, said: “Well, I don’t really feel satisfied, because it means someone else has died. I just accept it as a fact, it’s not something I ever intended, wanted or worked for, but it’s just one of those facts of life. You might find it amazing, but it’s just one of those things.”

Weighton, who turns 112 next month, was already England’s oldest man, and became Britain’s oldest when Scotland’s oldest man, Alfred Smith, from St Madoes, Perthshire, who shared a birthday with him, died last summer.