Surfer learns to ride waves on his head

Dulip Kokuhannadige stunned fellow surfers when he first mounted his board and performed a headstand while riding the waves.

The 22-year-old has since got the trick down to a fine art, and is now able to stay upside down on the board for 15 seconds at a time.

The Sri Lankan-born builder from Bournemouth, Dorset says he first attempted the stunt in his home country while teaching young people to surf in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami.

"I lost everything in the tsunami but decided to volunteer and help others by teaching them how to surf during the bad times," he said.

"One day I decided to do something different so tried a headstand on my board. I actually managed to stay up for a few seconds so kept practising."

He continued to work on the act after he moved to Britain in 2005 and now spends most of his time in the sea surfing on his head.

Mr Kokuhannadige has tried to teach his friends how to surf upside down but none of them have been able to do the stunt.