98-year-old message in bottle sets world record

London: It was scooped up from the sea after 98 years, and now officials say a message in a bottle discovered in Scotland has set a world record.

Fisherman Andrew Leaper found the bottle - released in 1914 - in his nets in April while sailing east of the Shetland Islands, which lie off Scotland's northern coast.

Guinness World Records confirmed on Thursday the find is the oldest message in a bottle ever recovered, beating a previous record by five years.

It was released in a batch of 1,890 bottles in a government experiment to map the undercurrents of the seas around Scotland.

Inside each bottle, a postcard asks the finder to record details of the discovery and promises a reward of a sixpence. Unfortunately for Mr Leaper, the coin no longer exists.