Red Nose Day, on 15th March, has raised £75.1m and counting for Comic Relief, the highest total raised on the night in its 25 year history.

The charity is still accepting donations but has already beaten the amount raised on Red Nose Day during its record-breaking year in 2011, when it raised £74.3m on Red Nose Day and £104m in total during the year.

This year’s fundraising total includes more than £16m from the government and £10m from sales of Red Nose merchandise in Sainsbury’s stores.

Co-founder of the charity, writer Richard Curtis, said: “Once again the extraordinary generosity of the British public has put Comic Relief in a position to be able to serve thousands upon thousands of people with very hard lives in Africa and the UK. It's almost impossible to thank enough all those who took part in the event, all the members of the public who fundraised and all those who gave so generously on the night.”

In its 25 year history Red Nose Day has raised more than £600m to change lives in the UK and Africa. The first event, in 1988, raised £15m through the concept of making the public laugh whilst donating money to help people in desperate need. Comic Relief was launched on Christmas Day in 1985, live on BBC One, while famine was devastating Ethiopia.