Ananova:

A QC will today complete the longest speech in British legal history when he sits down after 119 days.

Nicholas Stadlen QC, lead counsel for the Bank of England, has been opening his defence in a £850m compensation claim.

Mr Stadlen's speech smashes a record set last year by his rival in the same case, Gordon Pollock QC, reports the Guardian.

Mr Pollock had been on his feet in court 73 at the Royal Courts of Justice for 80 days setting out the case by creditors to collapsed bank BCCI.

When he finished, Mr Stadlen rose to address the judge: "After six months, the empire strikes back," he said.

Asked last night how many pages Mr Stadlen's opening will have run to, a spokeswoman said: "Our legal team have long since lost count."

But his core trial bundle runs to 125 lever-arch files, and a barrier of files between the legal teams has been dubbed the Berlin Wall because neither team can see each other across the top.