Paralympic gold-medalist David Weir suffered the heartache of two punctures as he narrowly failed in his quest to win a fifth London marathon title on Sunday.

Mr Weir, from Wallington, was denied the honour of becoming a quintuple champion when he was overhauled by eventual winner Josh Cassidy within sight of the finishing line.

Despite the slippery conditions, the 30-year-old dominated the early stages and built up a lead of around three minutes on his rivals.

But then the first puncture struck just after the halfway mark and the double Olympic gold-medalist had to push twice as hard just stay ahead of the closing pack.

Mr Weir, who was sporting a new draft chair, said: “I was pushing really hard and was about three minutes in front when the front tyre went at around 15 miles.

“You can normally carry on without the front but then with about 6 miles to go, my back left tyre blew out as well which made it virtually impossible to continue.

“I was trying my hardest, but it was like doing another 20 miles on top. I had a solid lead, three or four minutes in front, and normally you would stop but I only kept going because I was so far ahead.

“It’s just one of those things. I don’t know what caused the puncture but I now have to pick myself up for the Paralympics in Manchester.”

Ironically, Mr Cassidy had been training intensively with Mr Weir since January, with the British racer having warned this week that the Canadian was a coming force.

Weir, 30, will take to the track to defend his 800m and 1,500m BT Paralympic World Cup titles at the games held in Manchester next month.

In 2008, Weir won his third London Marathon in a row, his fourth in total, and followed this up by winning two golds at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Games, his third games, in Beijing, China.