Beatles fans break singing world record

More than a thousand Beatles fans came to the Pier Head in Liverpool Credit: ITV Granada

Beatles fans gathered in Liverpool on Friday for a record-breaking singalong to mark the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four's first single.

More than a thousand singers set a world record for 'singing in a round' at Liverpool's quayside.

They sung the Beatles' first hit, 'Love Me Do', which was released on 5 October 1962.

Singing in a round involves two or more voices singing the same melody but with each voice coming in at a different part of the song.

The previous record was set in Chicago last year, when 897 people sang the Wayne Newton song 'Danke Schoen' during a 25th anniversary screening of the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, in which the song appears.

Organisers of the Beatles event called on fans to come to the Pier Head, Liverpool at noon on Friday, hoping to get a thousand participants.

In the end, an adjudicator from Guinness World Records counted 1631 singers, comfortably breaking the record.

Love Me Do reached number 17 in the UK charts on its release, and number one in the US.