A man's bid for a year's supply of free chicken nuggets has become Twitter's most retweeted post of all time.

Carter Wilkerson asked US food chain Wendy's how many retweets he needed for 365 days worth of nuggets - to which he was told 18 million.

While he remains someway off that target, Mr Wilkerson's post on the social media site has been retweeted a record of 3.42 million times since early April.

Wendy's has now decided that his efforts merit a gift card worth a year's supply of nuggets, while it has also donated $100,000 to charity.

Mr Wilkerson's quest for free chicken had been backed by a host of social media stars and businesses including Microsoft and Amazon.

His post, which read "Help me please. A man needs his nuggs", surpassed US TV star Ellen DeGeneres' "Oscars selfie" from 2014 to reach top spot this week.

Having played a part in setting a new world record, Wendy's said it was prepared to give Mr Wilkerson a gift card worth 365 days of nuggets.

It also revealed it would be donating $100,000 to a children's fostering agency, a charity he supports.

"I want to give back. I am so blessed to have an opportunity to use my voice to support something I believe in," Mr Wilkerson said.

"And really grateful to everyone who Retweeted my post. They made this happen."