WHEN Worcester College of Technology student Will Stephenson started sitting down while riding his skateboard, he had no idea he was about to break into a sport in which he now counts himself among the world's elite.

The 19-year-old from Clifton-upon-Teme has become one of the planet's top performers at street luge - which basically involves lying down on an over-sized skateboard and propelling himself down hills at speeds in excess of 70mph.

"A lot of people get into it by watching on the TV but I just started sitting down on my skateboard and I didn't even realise it was a sport," he said.

"I typed butt-boarding into the internet and it turns out to be a big sport.

"I started building specific boards with bigger wheels and started talking to people on the internet.

"Before I knew it, I was going all over the country and competing. Street luge evolved because people wanted to go faster on their skateboards, so they started lying down on them.

"You are lower to the ground so there is less air resistance."

There have been reports of street lugers reaching speeds of 86mph in Brazil and Stephenson is not too far behind.

"I had one of my friends following me. She was doing 65mph and I was pulling away from her so I was probably doing over 70mph," he said. The electrical installation student will be hitting the roads at a United Kingdom regional event at Scammonden Dam, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, this weekend.

But his competitive highlight came when he took part in last year's World Championships.

Stephenson added: "I started competing in 2004 on the Isle of White and took fourth place and it was like, Where did this kid come from?' "Last year, I managed to go out to Switzerland to compete in the World Championships.

"I went out there for five days and really enjoyed myself.

"I finished 16th out of almost 50 people and I was very pleased with that.

"I was surprised I managed to make it down the course."