CAN you believe it? Fizzy drink collection is 4,000 strong - even though owner only drinks water

Fizzy drink fan Jay Watson has racked up a staggering collection of 4,000 cans - even though he only likes water.

The dad-of-two, from Illinois, USA, has been collecting cans as a hobby for just three years but it has already taken up cupboards and wardrobes in his home and basement - and is now spilling over into his garage.

But although his hobby may seem a fizzy drink fan's dream - Jay hasn't actually consumed a single drop as he can't stand fizzy drinks, opting for water instead.

So when Jay, 42, gets a new can, he mostly pours the contents away, before carefully rinsing it and adding it to his steadily-growing collection.

He occasionally allows his children to guzzle the drinks, holding 'taste tests' with them to include them in his hobby.

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The audio technician collects his cans from all over the world, with his assortment beginning with a can of Pepsi he recovered from work which had been sitting on top of a water cooler for a long time.

He told the Daily Mail: 'Someone bought it from a vending machine but found it had a small hole in it, so was placed on top of the water cooler where it stayed for years.'

Jay has so far spent more than £950 on his the cans, which include Sprite, Coca Cola and Mountain Dew among many others.

But while Jay is not fussy about the cans he does collect, there is just one thing he won't include stockpile - alcohol.

'I would collect any size beverage can made of any material with any style opening mechanism - as long as it didn't contain alcohol,' he added.

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'I don't drink alcohol and I had to draw the line with my collection somewhere, so call of my cans are non-alcoholic beverages.'

'I've bought 1,432 cans off eBay, 1,265 cans from trades or from other collectors. As far as energy drinks go, I like the design of Monster Energy cans.

'Their speciality flavours usually have really neat cans.'