TWO cousins from Basingstoke, who spend their days running up walls and jumping across rooftops, have smashed a world record.

Professional free-runners Cole Armitage, 21, and Scott Young, 20, beat the record for holding a draining acrobalance position while on Sky1 show, Guinness World Records Smashed!

The pair held the “longest duration human scale” for 49 seconds – ten seconds longer than the previous record, held by Jessica and Hartmut Held, from Germany.

Scott, of Fylingsdale Close, Buckskin, said: “When we broke the record, it was the most amazing feeling to know we’re a part of history.

“We were supposed to get one attempt – because it’s a strength-based move the first go should be the best. But we failed at first and convinced the producers to let us have another go – and thankfully we did it.

“It was so tiring, and at the time you don’t know how long you’ve been doing it because you’re just focusing on positive thoughts. By the end, we were just shouting to each other for encouragement.”

Cole, of Dryden Close, Popley, said: “When they told us we had broken the record, I was so happy because we had trained for the event and I didn’t want to go on TV and fail.”

The athletic cousins have both been learning free-running since their early teens. Scott used to film Cole and his brother Chase attempting the brave acrobatic moves and then decided to have a go himself.

Cole and Scott have since turned their love of the sport into a career and are both now full-time free-runner coaches.

Along with their friends, they are part of the leading free-running group in the UK, 3Run, based in Basingstoke.