Many people may feel a twinge of guilt if they spend a whole day watching television.

But Tom Gibson is proud of doing exactly that, not just for a day but for more than two days without sleep.

Tom, 24, an IT support technician, of Wilberforce Road, Hendon, started his challenge at midday on Tuesday, in an attempt to break the world record of 47 consecutive hours of television watching.

Tom hopes to have watched television for 50 solid hours by 2pm today.

Speaking at the beginning of the week, he said: "If I plan ahead for it, I'm usually quite good at staying awake, but I'm also legendary for falling asleep on the sofa in front of the television after a big Friday night out.

"None of my friends or colleagues think I'm going to do it, they all think I'm mad, but I will have to prove them wrong, it's adding fuel to my fire.

"My confidence varies depending on how much I think about it. Fifty hours is a very long time, but I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think I could cope."

Despite his dedication to home entertainment, Tom does, in fact, have a girlfriend, Julia Kerrison, who will be there to cheer him on during his challenge.

Run by HomeChoice, which is launching its digital TV, video-on-demand and internet services, this world record attempt will see Tom sitting in a specially-created living room' with nothing but a sofa and television.

He will be able to watch any channel he likes, terrestrial and digital. The only thing that will be different from being at home is that he will be on show like a TV-watching David Blaine, who lived in a glass booth with food over the Thames for 40 days.

He said: "I think I'll be like a human billboard on the side of their building in Kensington. I'm essentially a living advert for them.

"I'm falling into the reality TV thing because everyone will be watching me watching TV, it's quite an ironic twist."

Tom was allowed food and drink, and a 15-minute break every eight hours, but he cannot take his eyes off the screen for the entire 50 hours. If he is successful, Tom will win £5,000 worth of Sony home entertainment equipment.