VALENTINE'S Day saw nearly 18,000 messages of love posted on to hearts for a charity's Guinness World Record attempt.

The British Heart Foundation pushed to get the title for the longest chain of paper hearts...and won.

Through its national network of more than 700 shops and shoppers who visited to write personalised messages, the charity surpassed Moët Hennessy UK, the previous Guinness World Records title holder, with its 11,288 chain of hearts.

The new record-holding chain measured almost one-and-a-half miles long, the equivalent of 25 football pitches.

Residents from the east of England contributed approximately 2,421 hearts in the final chain.

But stars from the world of sport and entertainment including Ulrika Jonsson, Esther Rantzen and the England women’s hockey team, all took part.

Simon Gillespie, chief executive officer of the British Heart Foundation, 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 we’re standing united against heart and circulatory disease.”

To watch a video from the day, click here