A WORRIED mum has warned parents to be on their guard after her children were sent a threatening chain letter claiming to be part of a world record attempt.

Clare Gibbs contacted the Advertiser/Messenger after opening the letter which was addressed to her three-year-old daughter Bethany and six-year-old son Thomas.

"I received a card from the Post Office telling me I had a letter to collect and would have to pay 99p to do so," said the Rednal Hill Lane, Rubery, mum.

She went to the Rednal sub office to collect the letter and pay the money owed.

"A pound is still a lot of money to a mum with two children," she said.

After opening the letter she was horrified to see they had been the target of what she suspected was a cruel hoax.

"The letter claimed to be from the Guinness Book of Records saying it had been started by children in 1996.

"It instructed the next recipient to send the letter on to four people within five days or the chain would be broken. It said the Post Office was monitoring the letter and would know who had broken the chain," she added.

Clare contacted the Guinness Book of Records, who confirmed the letter was a hoax.

"I now want to warn other parents these letters are making the rounds, especially as they ask youngsters to put their name and address on the back of the envelope before sending it on," she added.

Guinness World Records spokesperson Kate White said: "Guinness World Records does not recognise or verify chain letter world record claims under any circumstances.

"Any correspondence alleging that Guinness World Records is currently supporting an attempt to break a chain letter world record is false."

Royal Mail also confirmed they had no involvement in the construction or monitoring of this letter.

Spokesperson Floyd Jebson said: "We urge anyone who receives one of these letters to treat it with the contempt it deserves and destroy it."