Lego enthusiasts in Tel Aviv have attempted to break the world record and build the tallest lego structure - in memory of an eight year old boy who died of cancer.

Volunteers spent the beginning of this week building a 36 metre (118 ft) Lego tower using half a million donated blocks. The tower, which weighs a tonne, will be named Omer Tower in honour of Omer Sayag, who died in 2014. After his death his teachers, Ben Klinger and Shirley Bardugo, launched a two year project to honour him.

Sayag played with Lego when he was too weak to play with other children, or unable to go outside due to his weakened immune system. According to the Jerusalem Post he built complex structures, his most impressive being a replica of the Taj Mahal.

Schoolmates, teachers, volunteers and an Israeli educational group, Young Engineers, gathered in Rabin Sqaure to build the tower, with Young Engineers taking responsibilty for the technical challenges involved in creating a standalone tower of such height, including putting its individual sections together at the end.

“We were facing a double challenge, educational and technical. We have been operating in Israel and around the world for a decade, teaching technologically intricate engineering and robotic principles using regular size building bricks models. We have not yet taken part in a project of this scale," the group said in a statement.

The current Guinness World Record for a Lego tower is 35 metres (115 feet) and was set in Milan 2015 by the Italian subsidiary of Lego.