'Just shoot me!' - applicants clamour for job

The company is considering a reality TV-style bootcamp. Photo / Thinkstock

An unusual job advertisement for someone to have paintballs shot at them to test their impact has attracted more than 10,000 applications from across the world.

UKPaintball said it was overwhelmed at the scale of the response to its bid to employ a Human Bullet-Impact Tester.

The firm, which has 60 locations across the UK, got expressions of interest from as far away as India, the US, Canada and Croatia for the job that pays £40,000 ($79,500) a year.

Applicants' comments included: "I'm a rugby player and I used to play airsoft without protection so I know physical pain.

"I can also break watermelon with my head.

"I always dreamed of being face-covered by paint while screaming so I think I can be the perfect tester."

Another hopeful candidate said he was fat - so easier to aim at.

Justin Toohig, owner of UKPaintball.co.uk, said: "We could not have predicted that so many people in the UK and beyond would want to get shot for a living.

"It's going to be a real struggle to whittle down the thousands of applicants to just one.

"We are now considering an X Factor-style bootcamp for the final 10."

- AAP