Ananova:

A man is fighting to have his world record bid officially recognised - for peeling off the largest ever whole piece of sunburnt skin.

Barry Kwok, from Hong Kong, claims the 21.6cm skin flap is in the shape of China.

Guinness World Records officials say they cannot consider Kwok's record attempt, as he doesn't have any proof the preserved sheet of skin came from him.

The Book of Guinness World Records have been inundated with record bids from China and Hong Kong since appointing a Chinese record assessor three years ago.

Kwok, a 43 year-old civil servant, has been keeping the skin since 1979, when it peeled off after he got sunburnt on a Hong Kong beach.

According to the Metro, he said: "My younger sister took 90 minutes to help me peel the largest piece of skin in the world off my chest with her hands, without using any equipment, in the shape of a China map."

But because he doesn't have any photographic evidence of his chest with the China-shaped skin recently removed, his application won't be considered.