Fire-fighters from HIAL have raised almost £400 for Children in Need by cycling the equivalent distance to Teesside from Inverness. The competition between instructors at the International Fire Training College at Teesside and fire-fighters from Inverness Airport took place on Friday 15 November with both teams using exercise bikes to complete 6the gruelling 303 mile distance.

The teams started at 8.10am and completed the distance by 5.40pm with Inverness beating the Teesside instructors by 40 miles.

John Rowley, leading fire-fighter at Inverness Airport said: "The day was good fun but very tiring. The team contributed 100% but we all felt the effects of our efforts the following day. Our aches and pains were worth it though as we raised money for a good cause and we beat the Teesside team by 40 miles, and that was with no training.

"The best part of the challenge was raising £395 for Children in Need. The decision was taken by the two teams to put our money together so the total raised from the day was £758.47."

The Inverness team consisted of John Rowley, Sandy Matheson, Bruce Mitchell, Paul Rodden and Bob MacPhee. They were encouraged by airport staff throughout the challenge and they were helped along the way with sandwiches provided by Alpha Catering.

ENDS