See what Britain's tallest man was doing in Hartlepool

Towering Paul Sturgess stands at 7ft 7in-tall and stopped passers by in their tracks in town.

The former professional basketball player turned actor visited Rafferty’s furniture store in York Road which has made Paul a double bed measuring 8ft in length.

Trying it out for size Paul, 30, said: “Obviously being Britain’s tallest man it’s quite difficult to fit in a normal bed so these guys here have custom made me a bed, and it’s plenty big enough.

“It’s brilliant. I wasn’t aware it’s going to be this big. I can definitely sleep comfortably at nights instead of having to sleep across a double bed, so it’s going to be perfect.”

Rafferty’s previously made a bed for Neil Fingleton, Britain’s former tallest man, from Durham, who was 7ft 7.56in-tall and died unexpectedly in February last year.

Store owner Colin Rafferty said: “Paul heard about it and he approached me several months ago to ask if I would make him a similar one.

“The base is specially made as are all the springs.”

Paul, who wears a size 18 shoe, and comes from Loughborough, in the east Midlands, used to play basketball for one of the most famous teams in the world, the Harlem Globe Trotters.

Since retiring he says his height has helped to open doors for him in the world of acting.

He has just finished filming for the new series of Dr Who and will be seen in upcoming movies by Disney and Warner Brothers studios, although he has to remain tight-lipped as to what they are.

“It’s definitely opened a few more doors in the acting world and in making appearances,” said Paul.

The downsides to being so tall he said are having to duck under doors and finding clothes that fit him.

But he added: “The good outweighs the bad.”