A woman who runs for charity dressed as a giant cupcake is hoping to hit a world record at this year's London Marathon.

Anna Bassil is aiming to land a Guinness World Record as the “fastest cupcake” at the event on Sunday October 3.

She previously ran 26.2 miles around St Albans in a cake costume for last year's virtual marathon, raising over £6,000 for Save the Children.

The costume has subsequently been upgraded and officially approved for the Guinness World Record attempt, transforming it into a solid structure that fully encases Anna's body and now weighs 3kg.

She gave it a test run at the St Albans Half-Marathon in June, and having spent the last two years committed to the event is looking forwards to finally completing the event next month.

Anna said: "Although it will be fantastic to get in the record books, my ultimate goal is to raise funds for Save the Children.

"They help to make sure children stay safe, healthy and keep learning so that they can become who they want to be.

"They have worked tirelessly to support children affected by the pandemic and ongoing conflicts around the world and help our vulnerable children and their families here in the UK.

"I work for GlaxoSmithKline who will be matching every single penny raised meaning your donations go twice as far. Charities have been hit hard by the pandemic and therefore I am reaching out to everyone for as much support as possible."

The actual record she is aiming to land is for the "fastest marathon dressed as a sweet food", and she is close to smashing her £10,000 target.

She added: "In addition, I pledged to dye my hair pink if we exceeded the £1,900 target by an additional £600, and then rainbow colours if £3,500 was raised - these targets were smashed and therefore my hair is now pink/rainbow."

Tomorrow Anna will be at The Quadrant in Marshalswick holding a street collection to boost her appeal funds.

Alternatively you can donate to her efforts at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/annabassilmarathon