While it will not release final figures for another two months, Macmillan has already raised £16.6m from its annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, smashing its 2012 record.

Money is still being collected from September’s event, but the charity said it was delighted to have already surpassed the £15m raised in 2012, itself a £5m improvement on the previous year.

The £16.57m already raised this year represents a doubling of the total fundraising tallies of 2010 and 2009.

Macmillan’s national events marketing manager Hannah Redmond said: “The final fundraising total will be announced in January and the vital funds raised will help us to ensure that no one faces cancer alone. We would like to extend a big thank you to all coffee morning hosts and supporters who have once again helped make our flagship fundraising event a huge success.”

Read Redmond’s'How they did it: Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee Morning' recounting what the charity did to achieve spectacular growth.