Naked rollercoaster 'record broken' in Essex

A record for the number of people riding a rollercoaster naked has been set in Essex, organisers have claimed.

A total of 102 people met at Adventure Island in Southend to ride the Green Scream without clothes.

The rollercoaster ran three times to accommodate the bumper crowd of nudes, event organiser Tracy Jones said. More than £22,000 was raised for charity.

Thirty-two nude people rode a rollercoaster at Alton Towers in Staffordshire in 2004.

Money raised by the record-breakers is to go to an appeal to improve Southend Hospital's breast care unit.

The Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation's Bosom Pals Appeal aims to raise £750,000 to provide two digital mammography machines, as well as enhancements to the breast care unit's current scanning machines.

Adventure Island boss Philip Miller said: "People have travelled from all over the UK to take part and we've heard some amazing stories from so many who have been directly, or indirectly, affected by cancer and wanted to give something back."

Barbara Warner, of Bosom Pals, said it "takes of lot of nerve to take off all your clothes" in front of so many people.

She added that the appeal "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 - more than £22,000 - for our vitally important cause".