Fundraisers hoping to break the world record for planting crocus bulbs have fallen short of their bid after the threat of rain caused the attempt to wilt.

More than 200 volunteers were rewarded for their belief in the cause with a morning of bright sunshine, which only turned to rain once 8,000 bulbs had been buried in the ground.

The event was organised to promote Rotary International’s attempt to eradicate polio worldwide by associating it with purple - the colour of a crocus.

Carshalton Rotary’s bid fell 132 people short of claiming the record at Beddington Park on October 2, but organiser Phil Blake said the day was not a failure.

He said: “In some ways it went very well. We had the hardy types turn up and it was a wonderful morning - we had the luck of the gods as far as the weather was concerned.

“We managed to plant 8,000 in a big flower bed in the end, and people were still asking if we had more.

“If we’ve done nothing else we’ve raised awareness of an anti-polio charity, and the park is going to be beautiful in February.”

The 65-year-old fencing contractor said more than 62,000 crocuses had been planted in Sutton as part of the scheme, with a total of 5.2m going into the ground nationwide to back the anti-polio campaign.

Around £65m was handed to Rotary by computer magnate Bill Gates in 2007 to help finish the polio eradication programme, provided the organisation matched the sum over a three-year period.

Mr Blake said there had not been a serious case of polio in India for the past six months, and described his organisation’s work as the final push.

He said: “We’re talking about maybe doing it again next year.

“If we can get one school involved, with 400 or 500 kids, we could do it easily.

“Maybe we could do it inside a school next time and beat the record.”