​Supporters join to smash record

Paper hearts containing messages from supporters has got a charity in the record books for the longest chain of its kind in the world.

Some 17,939 paper hearts were joined to ensure the British Heart Foundation (BHF) created a new Guinness World Record.

Through its network of over 720 charity shops and thousands of supporters, the charity asked people to write messages of support for their loved ones battling heart disease or in memory of those they’ve lost.

BHF beat the surpassing previous Guinness World Records holder Moët Hennessy UK by around 6,000.

The new record-holding chain measured almost 1.5 miles long, the equivalent to 25 football pitches.

Linda Robson, Ulrika Jonsson, Esther Rantzen, and the England women's hockey team all wrote personal messages to be included in the chain.

Simon Gillespie, BHF chief executive, said: “Seven million people in the UK suffer from heart and circulatory disease which accounts for one in four of all deaths. The British Heart Foundation is committed to funding over half a billion pounds of new research before 2020 to help bring an end to this heartbreak.

“Bringing together so many tender yet powerful messages of love, support and hope through this Guinness World Records title attempt shows that we’re standing united against heart and circulatory disease.”