A VETERAN daredevil plunged a staggering 465ft to set a new bungee jumping record.

Former cabbie Ray Woodcock, from Rayleigh Road, Eastwood, set a new British – and potential world record – for the highest jump with a full body submersion into water with his leap.

The pensioner’s death-defying leap smashed his own previous world record of 380ft and was streamed live over 4G to his family.

The jump took place from a special 500ft crane at Chepstow Quarry, in Gloucestershire – the site of the highest bungee jump in the UK and now home to the National Diving and Activity Centre, due to its deep water.

Mr Woodcock said: “The jump was absolutely incredible. A little bit harder than I thought it would be. The height was unbelievable, I looked at it from the ground and thought, wow no one’s going to jump off that.

“As I was going up in the crane, everything looks totally different.

When you’re standing next to that open doorway and you've got someone bigger than you ready to shove you out, you have to just go with it.

“When I was falling, I was saying in my mind, ‘please let it be a world record’.

“I started in a very bad spin, so the impact with the water was pretty hard. It was quite a jolt and I was completely submerged.

But I knew the second I hit the water there was no problem, I’d soon be shooting 300ft into the air and flying.”

Mr Woodcock, a taxi driver for more than 30 years, performed the jump to raise money for the Southend Taxi Drivers’ Charity for Children, which takes sick and disabled children on an annual outing.

Using a waterproof EE Action Cam, secured to his chest, Ray was able to live stream the stunt to his terrified children and grandchildren at home.

He added: “It was very special because my family could watch, could feel, could see what I was doing – the new technology is amazing.

“When I was standing on the edge, with nothing between me and nearly 500ft – for the kids to have seen that at home must have blown their minds.”

Mr Woodcock’s son Marc, 37, said: “I’m extremely happy that he’s safe. The 465ft drop looked ridiculously high, I couldn’t even comprehend doing something like that.

“My heart was in my mouth, my stomach turned, it was terrifying for me, let alone for him.”

Jon Snape, head of the UK Bungee Club, said: “Ray contacted me 18 months ago. He said he was doing a fundraiser and wanted to break the record for the highest jump into water.

“I just thought he was nuts at first – you have a 73-year-old gentleman jumping 465ft, six metres from a sheer cliff face – but he was insistent. He’s an incredibly brave and inspiring person."

The leap is now being reviewed by Guinness World Records.

It was filmed using EE’s new 4GEE Action Cam, the world’s first action camera that live streams over 4G.

For more information, visit Actioncam.ee.co.uk MR Woodcock is no stranger to adventure and in 2004 climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

In 2009, he drove a team of huskies 250km across the Arctic to raise funds for Little Haven’s Children’s hospice in Thundersley.

The following year, he trekked across the Nevada desert to raise cash for Havens Hospices.

Not content with that, in 2013 he did a death-defying, worldrecord- breaking bungee jump 380ft into water and last year he was part of a five-man team who climbed to the top of Mount Snowdon.

Mr Woodcock says he has no plans to give up his highaltitude feats any time soon.

He said: “At 73, there are lots of things you can’t do, but the world record for the oldest jumper is over 100, so at my age I’m a spring chicken.

“A lot of people at my age, they've given up – but you’re never too old