A world record has been broken at Oswestry Showground as more than 1,000 young players came together on Sunday.

In total 1,217 children from clubs across Shropshire and beyond took part in the largest rugby union coaching session led by former Wales rugby player Alex Murphy.

The event was organised by Warren Howell of Oswestry Rugby Club in conjunction with Curtis Langley from The Movement Centre – a charity based at the Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen, that supports children with movement disabilities to reach their full potential.

The previous record was held by Tokai University Rugby Football Club in Japan, with 602 participants in a lesson.

Ahead of the event, Alex, who is director of rugby at Ellesmere College and was supported by members of the college team, said he was confident of their success.

He told the Advertizer: "We've got good connections with Oswestry Rugby Club, so when Warren got in touch about the world record attempt we were happy to support them.

"I have never been involved in a world record attempt before. The brief was to keep it short and to the point, but we'll be putting on a fun session.

"The only problem we have is there isn't a lot of room for them, but I'm pretty sure we can break the record and it is great to be supporting something like this."

A special appearance was made by Shropshire-born England rugby player, Kai Owen.

He said: "This is really good.

"It's exciting to see and to see all the kids who are looking forward to it."

Volunteers for The Movement Centre were on hand during the day to collect donations from participants and spectators.

Curtis said: "I just want everyone to go for it, take part for the full half hour and you'll be World Record holders!"

The clubs that took part included: Oswestry, Whitchurch, Shrewsbury, Chester, Wrexham, Newport, Bridgnorth and Telford.

The event was supported by members of the Cambrian Rotary Club who marshalled the gathering.

Earlier in the morning, the players had taken part in Oswestry Rugby Club’s Rugby Minis Festival.