A 50 foot high tennis racket, believed to be the world's largest, has been built in New York.

Assembled on the corner of 85th and 164th in Queens, the giant wooden structure was built by Ashrita Furman, his spiritual group, and several students, and resembles an enormous replica of Billie Jean King's tennis racket.

Ashrita said: "We got permission from Guinness to model the racket after an old fashioned wood racket.

"People basically don't use wood rackets anymore but they said as long as it's actually exactly to scale and is used with the same exact materials, then we could use an old fashioned wood racket."

He added: "We're glad we could offer some joy to people around us. You can't help but smile when you see a large tennis racket like that."

The huge piece was only on display for a day despite taking days to build, assemble and string.

It is hoped it will find a home in a children's museum.