London - A games buff spent 120 hours painstakingly building the world’s largest jigsaw - only to discover four pieces were missing.
Graham Andrew, 48, had almost completed the gargantuan 33,600-piece puzzle but fell short at the final hurdle.
The children’s entertainer’s epic endeavour was to try to break the current world record of completing a 32,000-piece jigsaw.
He enlisted more than 200 people to help him finish the puzzle, which was being built at a community centre in Reepham, Norfolk.
Andrew even bought a second £160 (about R3 000) jigsaw of the scene - which depicts jungle animals - from Barcelona-based company Educa just in case pieces went missing.
But to his dismay, when he tried to use pieces from the back-up puzzle to fill in gaps he found they did not fit, as each puzzle is uniquely cut. Andrew said: ‘I always knew pieces could go missing, so I bought the other set but when I found out they wouldn’t fit I couldn’t believe it.’
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He now has to wait for the missing pieces to be specially cut and sent from Spain before he can complete the puzzle - and claim to have broken the record.
However, his efforts will not be all in vain - as when the jigsaw is finally complete, it will be displayed at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
Daily Mail