Over 17,000 people simultaneously sang classic carols on Sunday as they attempted to smash the world record for carol singing.
Singers in Scotland, Cornwall and Wales joined in with the bid as they sought to beat the record set in 2009 of over 14,000 people.
The attempt follows news that over a quarter of parish councils are saying door-to-door carollers need to apply for permits.
Inspiring
For the world record bid five carols were sung: Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, and Away in a Manger.
Premier Christian Radio organised the event and CEO Peter Kerridge said they were now waiting for official verification of the record.
Mr Kerridge said: “It’s inspiring to see so many people across the whole of the UK get on board for this record breaking attempt.
Celebrate
“It’s been a lot of fun, and has brought people out to celebrate and really be a part of the spirit of Christmas.
“As far as we can tell with these initial figures, we’ve broken the record! We hope to get the rubber stamp from Guinness in the next few months.”
Fox’s Biscuits carried out a survey of 50 councils about their policies on Christmas traditions and found that 28 per cent of them insist on carol singers applying for a permit.
Carollers who are required to have permits may be sidelined in specially designated areas.
Licence
An entry on the Department for Culture Media and Sport’s website says: “Most carol singing is either spontaneous, incidental to other activities or part of a religious service and is usually not, therefore, licensable.”
It adds however that it is for licensing authorities to determine whether or not specific events need a licence.