The man who beat Guinness World Records

Toby Stoff has spent the equivalent of New Zealand’s lockdown period working to right a wrong. That injustice – the awarding of the world’s steepest street title to Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech, Wales – was corrected by the Guinness World Records in a stunning reversal on Wednesday.

It meant Dunedin’s Baldwin St has reclaimed the title, while thrusting Stoff, a surveyor with Clark Fortune McDonald, into the national spotlight.

Just don’t expect a Dunedin street to be named after him anytime soon.

‘‘They only do that for dead people . . . that’s probably a bridge too far.’’

He had talked to his Welsh counterparts who pushed for the world record bid and they were philosophical about the reversal.

‘‘It is one of these things that people argue over that isn’t even important in the scheme of things, but is important to you.’’

Stoff said members of the public and former Otago University classmates funded his campaign and ‘‘there was a lot of running around’’.

That campaign started after he saw a picture of how Ffordd Pen Llech was measured for the Welsh town’s record bid.

He knew that methodology was flawed, as the measurement was taken on the inside curve on a corner.

‘‘We would always do the measurement on the centre line.’’

In a statement, Guinness conceded that in order to fairly assess the different shape of the streets, whether they’re straight or curved, steepness must be measured by the central axis. Stoff 1 – Guinness 0.

And those results confirmed Baldwin St had a steeper gradient of 34.8 per cent, compared to Ffordd Pen Llech’s gradient of 28.6 per cent.

‘‘I didn’t think it would spiral as it did,’’ said Stoff, who spent about four weeks of his own time on the project.

His bid took him to Wales and back. He appeared on the British ‘‘court’’ show Judge Rinder to argue his case.

Stoff said he was pleased the victory had given the country a much needed ‘‘ray of sunshine’’ during a bleak period.

‘‘It is one of those nice wee intangibles.’’

Baldwin St was an important attraction to the city.

Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins praised Stoff, whose ‘‘good-natured dedication to the cause has made headlines around the world and ensured that we can still count Baldwin St as one of Dunedin’s unique attractions’’.

The city would celebrate Stoff’s success when it was appropriate to do so.

‘‘In the meantime, if it’s not in your neighbourhood, please don’t come visit,’’ he said.

Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief at Guinness World Records, said he was grateful to the Baldwin St appeals team ‘‘for making us aware of a rare gap in our stipulations’’.

‘‘We’re pleased to see the title return to New Zealand,’’ Glenday said.