Matthew, 9, aims to break record with his eraser collection

But he also has a more unusual ambition – to break a Guinness world record for the biggest eraser collection.

Matthew’s goal has seen him collect more than 3,500 pencil rubbers over the past few years.

Mum Heather explains: “We got him the Guinness Book of Records one year for Christmas, and he decided he wanted to beat one.

“He read about a woman in Germany who has 19,000 rubbers, and he chose to try to beat that; he’s still got quite a long way to go.

“She started when she was nine, so he’s started at a good age.

“You’re not allowed to have two of the same kind, so everywhere we go, we look out for new ones, and family and friends always bring some back if they’ve been away somewhere.

“He gets at least one every week. When he comes home from school on a Friday I give him a new one; eBay is a wonderful thing!”

At the last count, Matthew, who attends Whitechapel Primary School and lives in Langley Lane, Goosnargh, had around 3,500.

He sorted them into sections of 100 during last year’s summer holidays, but has since collected more.

They’re all kept in storage baskets, and he gets them out occasionally to put them on display or play with them when his friends come round.

“I wouldn’t like to think how much money we’ve spent on them all,” Heather adds. “They vary from about 10p to £1, but you can find some real bargains on the internet.

“People also sell their collections online, so we bought someone’s collection of about 40 erasers a couple of years ago – they can go for quite a price, though.

“I think his favourites are Iwako erasers from Japan, they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with characters, cakes and animals.”

Matthew, who also enjoys swimming and indoor climbing, says: “I chose to collect rubbers because I already had quite a lot, because I like art.

“At first it was easy but then once I had quite a lot, it became harder.”

l Do you have a huge collection of something unusual? Email [email protected].