Brighton dragon slayer advertises his services on Gumtree

Vincent Whittaker offers his services as an ‘experienced’ dragon slayer, willing to deal with any creature, small or large.

Former call centre worker Vincent, of Clermont Terrace in Preston Park, advertises his services on the website Gumtree.

He said he is hopeful the dragon slaying may turn into a full time career opportunity after receiving dozens of responses since the advert went online.

Vincent said: “There has been an overwhelming response so far.

“If the calls keep coming in then I may go full-time.”

Vincent has told how he takes his profession very seriously and has urged people not to respond to his adverts if they are “time wasters”, as he does not believe in “imaginary places like Hogwarts”.

He said: “Sometimes it’s annoying because not a lot of people know what dragons look like.

“On some call-outs I get, it just turns out to be a large cat.”

Vincent came up with the fun idea after losing his last job as a call centre worker.

“I have slain three dragons in the Brighton area and captured 12, which I then took to an animal rescue centre,” he joked. “I’ve been in training for three years after a dragon destroyed my ice cream van in Patcham.

“There’s always been a dragon problem in Brighton but no-one talks about it.”

Vincent describes Brighton’s dragons as having a European appearance, making them look a lot like dinosaurs and the dragons you see on Game of Thrones.

To combat the beasts, Vincent has constructed his own armour, made out of the bonnet of a Ford Fiesta and shaped to his body.

Vincent also revealed his strict training regime to battle dragons.

He said: “I honed my skills by tackling annoying yappy dogs and other nuisances in the area.”

Culler of dragons

LEGEND has it that St Leonard the Dragon Slayer, who lived in St Leonard’s Forest, slayed the last dragon in England in the 6th century.

According to legend, St Leonard was a French hermit who was attacked by a dragon whilst walking through the forest.

St Leonard slew the dragon after a bloody battle and as a reward, requested that snakes be removed from the forest and that the nightingales would be silent.

Legend also states that the second dragon in St Leonard’s Forest was encountered in the 17th century, when there was said to be a dragon almost 10 feet in length which was terrorising the people of the forest and the surrounding area. It is considered that the story may have been circulated by a smuggling gang to get people to avoid the area The dragons of St Leonard’s Forest stand out in British folklore, making the forest the premier location for the modern-day dragon slayer.