Adam's record-breaking holiday itinerary: 12 countries in 24 hours: My

Adam Leyton, 39, from Horsforth, was forced to run the final 4km of his journey in order to make it into his 12th country before the end of his 24-hour deadline.

He also needed to make sure he set foot in every country, meaning he had to hop on and off a train to ensure all 12 were ticked off.

The previous world record, set in 1993, saw 11 countries hit in 24 hours, and now Mr Leyton is waiting for Guinness World Records to verify his achievement.

Beginning in at 7.01am in Perl, in Germany close to the border with Luxembourg on May 25, the dad-of-three, passed through Luxembourg, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary before crossing the border into Austria.

The final stretch of his journey, crossing from Hungary into Austria, saw him make a mad 4km dash through the Hungarian and Austrian the border in order to complete the challenge in time.

Mr Leyton strategically chose the small German town of Perl as it lies just over the river from Schengen in Luxembourg, the town where the agreement for passport-free travel in Europe was signed.

He said: “I started in Perl as it is just over the river from Schengen and with the EU referendum coming up I thought it was a good place to start and I wanted to see as much of Europe I could in one day before the referendum.”

The internet entrepreneur managed to get off to a rapid start to his quest to break the world record, hitting four countries in just 74 minutes, having hit France and Belgium in quick succession after his trip to Luxembourg.

He then flew to Amsterdam where he took a connecting flight to Copenhagen, before crossing the Øresund Bridge that connects the Danish capital with Malmo in Sweden.

A hop back to Copenhagen before a flight to Warsaw saw Mr Leyton reach Warsaw just after 8pm.