The world’s oldest living man said on the occasion of his 112th birthday that he has no “special secrets” to reveal about his longevity.

John Tinniswood, born in Liverpool on August 26, 1912, told the Guinness Book of Records that he had “no idea at all” why he had lived so long.

The lifelong Liverpool fan, who lives in a care home in Southport, became the oldest living man in the world in April when 114-year-old Juan Vicente Pérez Mora died.

He said he was “quite active as a youngster” and “ran a lot” but he believes he is “no different” from anyone else, adding: “You either live a long life or you live a short life and there’s not much you can do about it.”

Mr Tinniswood, who was born the year the Titanic sank, said he would take his 112th birthday “like everything else”.

“I have no idea why I have lived so long,” he said. “I can’t imagine that I have any special secrets.”

“I was quite active as a teenager, I ran a lot… whether that had anything to do with it, I don’t know.

“But for me, I’m no different. Not different at all.”

Born 20 years after the founding of his favourite football club Liverpool, Mr Tinniswood has witnessed all but two of the Reds’ 66 First Division trophies, missing out on the first two league titles in 1901 and 1906.

He was two years old when the First World War broke out, and he had just celebrated his 27th birthday when the Second World War began.

He held an administrative position with the Army Pay Corps, was responsible for searching for stranded soldiers and organizing food supplies, and is today the oldest living male veteran of World War II in the world.

He met his wife Blodwen at a dance in Liverpool and they married in 1942.

Their daughter Susan was born in 1943 and the couple spent 44 years together before Mrs Tinniswood died in 1986.

After World War II, he worked as an accountant for Shell and BP before retiring in 1972.

He said that apart from eating a portion of fish and chips every Friday, he did not follow any special diet.

“I eat what they give me, and so does everyone else,” he said. “I don’t have a special diet.”

Since his 100th birthday in 2012, he has received a birthday card every year from the monarch – first from the late Queen Elizabeth II, who was almost 14 years his junior, and then from King Charles III.

When asked whether he thought the world had changed much since his childhood, he replied that “in my opinion it is no better or hardly better than it was then.”

“In some places that’s probably true, but in other places it’s worse,” he added.

The oldest man of all time was the Japanese Jiroemon Kimura, who lived to the age of 116 years and 54 days and died in 2013.

The oldest living woman and the oldest living person in the world is 116-year-old Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka.