Across the country, almost £21 million was made on the night of the BBC television show, beating the previous year's total of £19 million.

And it is hoped once all the fundraisers have finished counting their cash, the total will beat last year's record total of £37 million.

Among fundraisers who took part in Northamptonshire were staff from The New Inn on the A5 near Long Buckby, who played a sponsored football match against their customers.

Pub owner John Thomas said: "We were absolutely gobsmacked with the response and support we got. There's a fantastic rapport between customers and staff at the pub."

It is hoped the pub regulars will have raised about £1,500 from the charity match, which was played at Long Buckby Football Club and for the past few weeks staff have also been topping up the fund by donating their tips.

Other antics performed in aid of Children in Need saw one pupil at Cedar Road Primary School have his head shaved, staff at Thomas Beckett School don fancy dress and Caroline Chisholm School pupils produced their own newspaper.

Children at Walgrave Primary School also created three huge spirals of coins to demonstrate how much money they had raised for Children in Need.

The school is hoping to have raised more than £250 from the event, which involved children bringing in a metre of coins rather than the usual one pound.

Headteacher, James Ayton, said: "It took three hours to put all the coins out in the school hall, but the pupils showed a great community spirit."

Pre-school youngsters at the Wooldale Early Care and Education Centre also had a picnic while police officers dropped in, so they could ride in a police car, at Millway Pre-school in Duston. The children also wore bandanas, similar to the one Pudsey Bear wears and at the Lucas Court Care Centre in Moulton, staff and residents dressed up as the Northampton Saints for the day.

Parents were also invited to take part in the same drama classes as their children by the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy, which holds after-school classes at East Hunsbury, Bugbrooke, Brixworth, Overstone and Parklands.

Sarah Moloney, principal of the Northampton group, said: "We had a really great response from the parents. They got really stuck in."