VIDEO: Autistic Derbyshire boy, 8, performs Thriller dance on shop's webcam

William Ryan entered the challenge on Wednesday while he was on holiday with his family in St Ives, Cornwall.

Incredible footage from the webcam shows the schoolboy stroll into view with the harbour behind him as other holidaymakers stroll across the pavement.

He then bursts into the ‘Thriller’ routine while his mum Gemma, 34, stands to the side playing the Michael Jackson hit on her phone.

The self-taught mini MJ, who has never had a dance lesson, continues to show off all his impressive moves as three people untie a boat right behind him.

A dog can also be seen on the beach in the background and the rhythmic youngster, from Heanor, carries on dancing even when more people walk in-between him and the camera.

Holiday letting firm Aspect Holidays posted the adorable 2.17-minute video on their Facebook page to announce William had won their “half term webcam challenge”.

The video has been viewed over 64,000 times and shared by almost 500 people with 1,000 Facebook users also ‘liking’ it.

William was invited into the shop to collect a hamper full of goodies, which included a £25 toy voucher, and the family were also offered a free break at the seaside town next February.

Yesterday, his mum Gemma said the dancing-mad schoolboy fell in love with Michael Jackson two years ago and taught himself the dance moves by watching his videos.

Gemma, who is training to be a teaching assistant, added: “We got married down there so it is a special place to us and we often go there as a family.

“The company have got a live webcam feed constantly so you can log on anytime and look at the harbour and beach.

“We mentioned the webcam competition to William and the first thing he said was: ‘Mummy, can I do Thriller please?’

“So when we were there I put the music on my phone and played it while he danced.

“When they put it online, they got the real track and edited it over it and the guy said it was incredible and he wasn’t missing a beat.

“William was diagnosed with autism when he was five so even though he is a very sociable boy he struggles to communicate with people his age.

“But his dancing is the thing that gives him his stamp and his identity.

“He is completely self-taught, we tried to take him to dance class once but there were too many people there so we left.

“He just watches videos constantly and teaches himself, people are amazed when they see how good he is.”

The family also took William to see Thriller Live earlier this year and audience members ended up clapping along as he danced to the show.

Gemma, who lives with her husband David, 40, and their two children William and four-year-old Edward, who also has autism, added: “We introduced him to Michael Jackson two years ago and he loved him.

“We were worried about him finding out that he had passed away and when he heard about it online he was sad.

“But he has all his music videos and he watches them for hours on end until he learns the routines off by heart.

“He has Michael Jackson costumes that he loves to wear and he is always dancing to his hits around the house.

“There’s been so many lovely comments about William on Facebook and it has really restored my faith in humankind.

“It was the cherry on top of the cake for us after a lovely holiday.”

Writing on Facebook, Aspects Holidays said: “And here it is...the winning entry in our half term webcam challenge!

“8 yr old William Ryan with his brilliant rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller!

“Congratulations William, your hamper full of goodies will be ready to pick up tomorrow!

“Make sure you watch it with the sound on and feel free to share!”