World's longest water slide set to open at Malaysian theme park

Incredible footage shows workers building the world’s longest water slide in a former British colony.

The 70-metre-tall and 1,140-metre-long slide is being carefully constructed through the jungle on the island of Penang in Malaysia.

Once finished, it will overtake the current slide holding the Guinness World Record title, which is 605-metre-long and opened in New Jersey in 2015.

Footage shows how the water slide will wind through the treetops in tropical temperatures with each ride lasting more than four minutes.

The park's chief executive Sim Choo Kheng said that the Guinness World Record officials will be the first ones to try out the ride before it can be officially granted the title of the world's longest water slide.

He said: ''Our plan was to build a water slide which would enable visitors to view the whole park and we did not intend to break the world record. Nevertheless, I am proud of what we have achieved.

''I’m overly concerned about the environment here so we tried our best to maintain the greenery by not chopping down the trees. We reckon the slide will be the main attraction when completed.''

The slide is set to be the main attraction at Escape Theme Park, which is still under construction but its grand opening is set to happen in August this year.

It is set in Penang, once a vital trading outpost of the British East India Company and the first British settlement in South East Asia.

The island became part of the British Empire between 1946 and 1957 after the Allies defeated the previous occupants, Japan, in the Second World War.