World hugging record

Hundreds of bystanders gathered at Wellington's Civic Square yesterday to see Alistair Galpin attempt to break a world hugging record.

Tension mounted as the self-proclaimed "record-breaking-addict" found himself with three minutes remaining and 33 hugs still needed.

Timekeeping records must be approved by Guinness World Records before the title is official, but Mr Galpin said he could not be happier. "It was a wonderful day and I'm so grateful to everyone who turned up. I was getting worried we wouldn't make it, but we proved there is a lot of love in Wellington."

Fraser and Bronny Hallett, of Seatoun, were among the kids to come along in the final days of school holidays. "I'd rather hug my dad really, because he's more warm and cuddly," said Fraser, 8. Sister Bronny, 7, said she liked hugging people "as long as they are not smelly".

Fire Service crew, on hand to supervise the crowd, got more than they bargained for – firefighter Phillip Rush was called up for a hug but wasn't complaining. "I was just here in case sparks flew with all the hugging going on, but I couldn't say no to a cuddle myself," he said.

Mr Galpin has more than a dozen records under his belt. He grew the world's longest chest hair (6cm), and wore the most pairs of underpants at one time (20). He also has records for eating the most garlic cloves in 60 seconds (seven) and crushing 20 eggs on his head in 30 seconds.

Mostly he is raising money and awareness for a charity. But the hug-athon was purely for the love of it.

His final tally was 624 hugs in an hour.