TWO men who have witnessed close friends develop Parkinson's have raised more than £4,000 for research into the disease.

David Trousdale of York and his father-in-law Ken Brown, from Pickering, cycled from London to Paris with a group of other riders to raise funds for the charity Parkinson's UK.

Mr Trousdale said: "Over the past few years many of those close to either myself or Ken have had the saddening experience of developing this illness.

"Neither of us want to see this terrible disease affect our family in the future, so decided that raising money between us to contribute towards Parkinson's UK's brain bank programme to find a cure would be a worthy cause to cycle 280 miles for."

They started their journey from London, cycling to Dover. From Calais, they cycled to Arras through the Somme, then from Arras to Compiegne and onto Paris the next day.

Mr Trousdale said: "Myself and Ken really enjoyed the challenge. Although the traffic in Paris was a nightmare and cycling into a headwind during the third day made the 80 miles feel like 180, we reminded ourselves that we were doing this for a great cause.

"Four of the riders had MS or Parkinsons so any aches and pains we had paled into insignificance compared to the challenges those riders faced.

"I was amazed at the camaraderie which developed between the 50-odd riders during the four days as we all willed each other on to the finish line.

"I'd definitely recommend this challenge to anyone who wants to raise money for a great cause whilst pushing themselves to the limit."

David's fundraising page can be found at justgiving.com/fundraising/david-trousdale