Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a Chalk Farm fancy dress shop raising over £1,000 for charity after smashing a Guinness World Record for the most people dressed as Superman.

Escapade fancy dress shop, in Chalk Farm Road, handed more than £1,000 to armed forces charity Help for Heroes last week following their record-breaking event at the Kendal Calling festival in late July, where over 800 people dressed as Superman in costumes provided by Escapade free of charge.

The previous record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Superman was a mere 566.

Festival-goers donated £500, which was matched by the fancy dress shop, a Camden institution for more than 30 years.

The shop has hosted Help for Heroes collection boxes for years in its store and thought the 75th anniversary of Superman, the same day as the CEO of Escapade’s birthday, was the perfect time to raise money for the charity.

Marketing executive Hal Sinden said: “It’s difficult for festival-goers as they only have a certain amount of money with them and the Superman costume doesn’t have any pockets!

“We were worried we wouldn’t get anything but we got £500 in the end, which was great.”