A MONOPOLY fan is set to become a Guinness World Record holder for his collection of more than 2,200 sets despite not playing the game for more than 20 years.

Neil Scallan estimates he has spent around £150,000 over a decade on his obsession with the property-based board game with sets flying in from all over the world.

But the 47-year-old has not spent a penny on Old Kent Road in years – preferring to keep the sets sealed and boxed up in storage units in Heathrow and Three Bridges, where he lives.

Neil said: “I buy them all sealed and that’s the way they stay.

“The last time I played a proper game was about 20 years ago.

“My girlfriend hates my collecting, she just thinks it’s a waste of money and space and gets annoyed when I go on holiday and look for sets.”

His position in the Guinness Book of World Records is set to be confirmed in the next few days, smashing the previous record by around 1,700 sets.

But the board game fan has vowed he will not stop until he has collected all editions of the famous game – a vow that might see him having to track down another 1,000 sets.

To mark his achievement, he will be visited this weekend by executives from leading manufacturers of the game including representatives from Belgian and Nigerian firms who are flying in especially to meet him.

The record-breaking collection began ten years ago when Mr Scallan bought an edition of Monopoly to mark a holiday he had enjoyed in what he describes as a unique twist on a postcard.

Since then he has been buying hundreds a year and tracking down limited editions not available in the shops through eBay, manufacturers and friends visiting foreign climes.

In total Neil believes his collection extends to about 2,200 individual sets with another 300 duplicates.

At first he stored them at his parents’ house but when they moved he had to store them in a room he was renting where they were stored from floor to ceiling and even on his bed.

He said: “I had to sleep as still as possible but I was woken on a couple of occasions when they collapsed beneath me.”

The sets are now kept in a specialist storage unit in Three Bridges and at Heathrow where he works for delivery firm DHL.