A huge slogan painted on a bare Mexican hillside is in the running for no less than four Guinness World Records, according to Evangelical Focus.

The 'Hill of the Bible' was created in 1987 as a project of the evangelical churches of Cuidad Juarez, the city best known for its high rate of drug-related crime.

The sign, with letters up to 50 metres high, reads: 'Ciudad Juárez, the Bible is the truth, read it.'

It is periodically repainted with lime and the site cleared of rubbish, most recently last week when 2,000 people took part in retouching the letters.

Its caretakers now hope to be considered for four possible world records: the world's largest invitation to read the Bible, the sign that covers the largest space – at 30,000 square metres, the sign painted by the largest number of people and the sign with the largest letters.

However, Cuidad Juarez pastor Gabriel Andavazo told Evangelical Focus that the most important thing was 'to let everyone know that just one passage of the Bible is the greatest Guinness record made by God himself'.

He said many had testified that they had begun to read the Bible and to seek God because of the sign.

A local environmental pressure group has attempted to block the attempt to seek Guinness record status on the grounds that the sign has a negative environmental impact. Andavazo said the lime paint was harmless and that 'If we did not pick the garbage we clean up, which are two full trucks at each cleaning visit, there certainly would be ecological damage.'