HE may be more than 700 letters down, but Norman MacRae has a long way to go if he wants to become a world record holder.

While most 90-year-olds would settle for an easy retirement, he has spent years writing to various newspapers and magazines in the hope of seeing his name appear on the publication's pages.

With hundreds of published letters under his belt, the Bicester man has set himself the task of getting into the record books for his literacy pastime.

His quest began when he posted some words to his former local paper in Windsor about the boxer Naseem Hamed, who was stripped of his MBE after being jailed for dangerous driving in 2006.

Mr MacRae, a retired government planning inspector, said: "At my highest point, I would be getting four letters published in a week – sometimes even two in a single day.

"I just love seeing what I write in the paper. I've always enjoyed writing.

"There was a five year period when I went between hospitals having major heart operations. I was close to death to be honest but I was able to write letters on and off in my spare time.

"I still get that same feeling as when I wrote my first one. I still enjoy seeing them on the page.

"You never know, if councils listened to what I saying then things might be a bit better now."

Mr MacRae's letters cover a whole range of topics including problems with dog mess, housing problems and planning applications – with another based on a previous story about the singer Robbie Williams.

He has all his published work kept at home, dating back to when he first started writing in.

As well as national papers including the Daily Express, Mr MacRae is also a regular contributor to the Oxford Mail's letters page.

In the last few months he has given readers his insight into the Duke of Westminster, the Horton Hospital and of course his world record chase.

Mr MacRae, who lives on his own, added: "I know that people are very interested in my letters and tell me when they see them.

"It's very important to give readers this room in the press, if anything they should give more space."

But despite his best efforts Mr MacRae – who claims the number of he has sent is more than 1,500 – has a long road ahead of him if he to achieve a world record.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records the title for the most published letters to newspaper editors is held by Subhash Chandra Agrawal from India, who clocked up an eye-watering 3,699 letters up until January 31, 2006.

Speaking about the record, Mr MacRae said: "I'll probably carry on sending letters to the Oxford Mail until they get fed up of me.

"I guess then I'll have to find another paper to write in to."