DETERMINED cyclists have embarked on a gruelling bike ride to raise money for a charity close to their hearts.

Taking on more than 100 miles over eight days, the group of six are fundraising for Will Taylor, six, who lives near Crooklands and was diagnosed with the muscle-wasting disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy last year.

A target of £5,000 was initially set to raise vital cash into research at Muscular Dystrophy UK - but thanks to the generosity of local people and businesses the total now stands at more than £13,000.

To boost that sum, Will's dad Sam, alongside close family and friends, began the challenging 874-mile ride from John O'Groats in Scotland to Lands End, Cornwall, on Tuesday.

Sam said: "As a family, our focus is on giving Will the best quality of life, and also on doing what we can to support research into treatments for Will and other children like him.

"We set a target of £5,000 and quietly hoped that we could raise £10,000. We never dreamed that we would receive this level of support. We are just incredibly grateful to all of the people and businesses, especially local businesses like Poole Townsend, Furness Building Society, Crooklands Hotel, Dance Attik, that have put themselves out to fundraise on our behalf and donate to Muscular Dystrophy UK.

"The reality is that every penny that we raise will help to take the research further and hopefully bring an effective treatment closer, so it feels amazing that so many people are getting involved."

The youngster, of St Patrick's School at Endmoor, will join the journey (in the car) from Kendal down to Cornwall and Sam hopes his son may be able to ride a couple of miles too.

The six who are completing the full ride are Sam; his sister-in-law Angela Cornthwaite; his wife's auntie Claire Guy; two university friends Alan Davies and James Davies and Pete Gallagher, a work colleague who has travelled back to UK from Savannah USA for the ride.

Fifteen more will join parts of the ride.

Local people are being encouraged to show their support today (Friday) from 5.30pm as the team stop en-route at The Crooklands Hotel.

Anyone wishing to donate should visit www.justgiving.com/wheretheresawill.