No world record for Brittany village

A small village in Brittany that tried to kiss its way into the record books has been thwarted by officials.

The Morbihan commune of Billio - population just 390 - was convinced it had written itself into the Guinness Book of World Records last September, when 909 couples gathered in a bid to break the longest 'kissing chain' at a fundraising event for cystic fibrosis charity Vaincre la Mucoviscidose.

The amorous would-be record breakers were convinced they had smashed the mark of 351 that had been set in Beijing in November 2011 - but, a year later, officials at the Guinness Book of World Records have refused to validate their claim, regional newspaper Ouest-France reports.

To the dismay of organisers, it said that the chain was incomplete and that not all the kisses were valid. The charity says that it has written to Guinness to appeal its decision and validate what they regard as a legitimate world record.