McWhirter stands down

Norris McWhirter, editor of the Guinness Book of Records from 1954 to 1986 and editorial adviser until 1996, is resigning as a director of Guinness Publishing, his last association with the world's highest- selling copyright book. Mr McWhirter, 71, founded the book with his late twin brother, Ross, 42 years ago, since when it has sold more than 80 million copies in 350 editions and 37 languages.

"I want to spend more time on other projects. I am working on two new reference books, one about inventors and inventions, the other about the 1,043 islands around Britain," he said.