Macmillan Children’s Books marked the recent release of children’s author Julia Donaldson’s latest book in fitting style this week with a world record for Longest Chain of Paper Dolls.

Measuring 4,549.7 m (14,926.8 ft) in length when laid out at London’s Southbank Centre on Monday, the chain was made up of 45,282 hand-designed dolls submitted by fans from all over the world over the summer.

The attempt was launched in June to coincide with the publication of the paperback edition of Donaldson’s book The Paper Dolls - the story of a little girl who makes a string of paper dolls which go on a fantastical adventure.

The length of the record-breaking chain was equivalent to 40 football pitches, almost 61 jumbo jets, or 80,000 jelly babies laid end-to-end.

The chain broke the previous record of 2.68km set by Tiffanie Tallman and Fostering Hope in the US last year.

The attempt also had a charitable aspect, with Macmillan Children’s Books pledging to give 10p for each doll submitted to Save the Children.

The publisher recently sent books and paper doll templates into the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, which is currently home to many of the Syrian refugees which Save the Children has been campaigning to support.

Commenting on the successful attempt, Donaldson said: ‘I am amazed and delighted that so many people from all over the world have taken the time to send in their paper dolls to us.

“From Australia to Oswestry, from Swansea to Syria, the support for our bid to break the Guinness World Records title has been astonishing.

“The Paper Dolls is a book which is very close to my heart and I am delighted that we have celebrated it in such a creative way.”