A teacher loves collecting magnets so much that he had to put large steel panels on his walls after he ran out of space on his fridge.

Former schoolmaster Tony Lloyd, 64, now has 5,000 fridge magnets from more than 120 countries around the world.

But Tony ran out of space on his fridge so placed 20 steel panels on his walls in his home to increase his collection.

He used to stick the magnets to walls in his classroom but after retiring he had to bring 1,000 of them home.

The magnetic mementos now cover most of his kitchen, hallway and dining room at his home in Rhiwbina , Cardiff .

Tony Lloyd
Tony Lloyd at home in Cardiff

And Tony hasn’t shut the door on his collecting yet.

Keen traveller Tony has been collecting magnets for 30 years after seeing another teacher’s collection while on an exchange trip to Australia.

Tony said: “I thought I could start with a collection of magnets from my travels and the first one I got was of Sydney Opera House - I still have it today.

“I had never noticed them before I went to Australia but when I came back I started seeing them everywhere, so as I travelLed around towns in Britain I would bring back a fridge magnet.

Tony has run out of room on his fridge
Tony has run out of room on his fridge

“It wasn’t long before I ran out of space on my fridge and freezer.

“I have been to 102 countries but I have magnets from 120 countries because people give me them as presents. A lot of my pupils and their parents would bring me magnets home from their holidays.

“The only country in the world where I couldn’t find a fridge magnet was Mozambique for some reason.

“I am hoping to get to 111 countries before I pop my clogs.

Tony used to stick the magnets to walls in his classroom but after retiring he had to bring 1,000 of them home
Tony used to stick the magnets to walls in his classroom but after retiring he had to bring 1,000 of them home

“I am still hoping to visit Burma, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Zanzibar and get some magnets - they are places on my bucket list.”

Father-of-two Tony has no idea how much he spent on his collection - or how much they are worth. He said: “To me they are priceless.”

Tony now volunteers teaching English as a foreign language and gives walking tours around Cardiff to foreign visitors and says it has helped boost his collection.

“My students and visitors know me for my collection and they bring me fridge magnets as gifts,” he said.

Some of Tony's many magnets
Some of Tony's many magnets

“I was recently took a group of 80 Dutch visitors for a Doctor Who tour and they brought me some fridge magnets.”

He said he loves “geographically informative” magnets but shuns anything “cheap or tacky”.

“In Windsor and London they have teddies dressed as kings and queens. It’s an abomination,” he said.

Tony believes he has the largest collection of fridge magnets in Europe - but is still a long way off the world record.

He said: “There is a woman in the United States who has 58,000. That’ll take some beating.”