A MOTOR-mouthed DJ fell short of his world record bid when he was taken ill halfway through his mammoth presentation.

Dave Leonard, a presenter and chairman of Hospital Radio Basingstoke, had been hogging the airwaves for almost two days.

Dave, 39, who started the programme with the Sparks record Beat the Clock just after noon on Friday, needed to broadcast continuously until 1.30pm today to clock up the British record and 4.06pm tomorrow to beat the 100 hours and three minutes Guinness world record set by a man from Sweden.

However, he had to stop at 8.15am yesterday after feeling faint.

Programme co-ordinator Neil Ogden took over the airwaves as Dave retired due to dehydration and exhaustion.

Neil told The Gazette: "He fainted while the doctor was here. I think he started to go downhill at around 4.30am.

"He was only allowed a 15-minute break every eight hours and had to introduce each record."

When The Gazette spoke to Dave on Saturday, he said concentrating was proving to be the hardest part while trying to eat, present and organise the records.

Despite falling some way short of the world record, the attempt has still raised £892, with more money coming in.

Dave said the cash would keep the 30-year-old station going. Most of its resources were spent restoring it after a devastating fire in 1999 took it off the air for 18 months.

Donations can be made by calling 01256 313521 or visiting the website on www.hrbasingstoke.co.uk