Bournemouth window cleaner sets Guinness world record for longest pole

Staff from Harvard Window Cleaning, which has offices in Bournemouth and Poole and works across the south, managed to give glass on the tenth floor of an office block a good washing.

Guinness World Records insisted that the window cleaning brush had to measure at least 35m (115ft) to set the new world record.

The company, which is the largest window cleaning franchise in the UK, spent several thousand pounds building such a pole and it took six people to raise it to the window.

A professional surveyor measured the pole and the attempt was videoed so officials can view the evidence and confirm the record.

The pole measured the same as three double decker buses or 33 Warwick Davises.

Luke Rayner, who has run Harvard Window Cleaning for ten years, said: “Most window cleaning poles don’t go beyond 65 feet so we have almost doubled the standard length.

“We commissioned a special pole that came in about 20 pieces that were clamped together with a brush at one end.

“Water was pumped through the tube and we were able to get it right to the top of the building. There was more wind than we’d have liked but we managed to clean a couple of windows.”

Luke said the record is yet to be confirmed but insisted they followed all the instructions.

He also added that their plan worked very well, despite the pole bending.

“Some of our team were at the top and we tied a rope to the brush as a safety measure,” he continued.

“We also had a cherry picker to help extend the brush to the top.

“The pole bent a great deal but we had planned for that and the plan worked very well.

“We have applied to the Guinness World Records to confirm the record, which I anticipate they will because we followed their instructions perfectly.”