Southend: Naked rollercoaster charity ride fails to beat world record but raises £10,000

An attempt to set a new world record for the biggest number of naked people riding on a rollercoaster has fallen short. It was hoped that 122 people would turn up to ride the fairground ride but only 57 people were brave enough to take their clothes off.

People travelled from all over the UK to take part in the charity event including Swindon, Newcastle and Edinburgh, who raised £10,000 for for Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation's Keyhole Cancer Appeal. They are aiming to raise £600,000 to provide a new, state-of-the-art keyhole surgery theatre suite.

This will enable surgeons to perform the latest and most complex keyhole procedures for patients undergoing cancer and general surgery, benefiting hundreds of patients each year.

Adventure Island operations director Andrew Renton said: "It's been an absolutely superb day with people all enjoying the chance to do something memorable, good fun and raise a large amount of money for a fantastic, local charity."

Lucy Thomas-Clayton, from Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation, told the Press and Journal: "It takes a lot of nerve to take off all your clothes in front of complete strangers, plus the world's media - so we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who was brave enough to bare all and raise such a huge amount of cash for our vitally important cause."

The Guinness World Record was set in 2010 when 102 people rode the Green Scream at Adventure Island in Southend completely naked. It's reported that the Guinness Book of World Records considers the Undie Run that took place on September 24, 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States to have had a record number of participants.There were 2,270 participants, which was held to protest Utah's conservative laws.