A GUTSY team of fundraising cyclists have raised more than £20,000 after a 'barmy ride' from Stourbridge to Land's End.

Stourbridge window cleaner Martin Whelan organised the 330-mile 'Barmy Ride to Land's End' in aid of the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity - having successfully completed a similar 110-mile charity cycle from Stourbridge to Barmouth last year.

He said: "The physical side of it was hard - the mental side of it and keeping everybody together as a team was even harder."

After battling through "appalling" wet and windy conditions on the first day of the ride, held back in June, the team enjoyed good weather for the rest of the five-day trip which left one of the team "red raw" - according to 40-year-old Martin.

The mostly Stourbridge-based team, comprising Barry Fisher, Tony Walters, Paul Davis, Steve Wallace, Richard Barnes, Adam Williams and Paul Hupperdine from Barmouth, were sponsored by a number of generous Black Country businesses including Stourbridge's All Electric Garages which loaned a support vehicle for the ride.

They also raised a substantial amount of the cash ahead of the trip - by holding fundraisers including a big charity ball at The Copthorne, a ladies' night at The Talbot pub in Stourbridge and a curry night at the Red Forte in Wollaston.

Martin said: "We really appreciate all the support we've had from local businesses. We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated."

Shropshire Scale Co in Stourbridge, Digby Stone in Halesowen, Bri-Mac Engineering Ltd in Dudley, the Fitness Factory in Stourbridge, Aristocraft Kitchens in Brierley Hill, GallifordTry and Peters Estates in Stourbridge also sponsored the event which saw Wayne Taylor, Neil Pritchard and Steve Jones acting as the support crew.

Martin added: "We also raised £500 on the way; people were stopping and saying 'put that in your bucket'."

He said the 'Barmy' team will likely hold further charity events in the future but for now they are having a rest.

Martin, from Wollaston, said: "I'm 90 per cent confident we'll end up having a ball next year and there's talk of doing Calais to St Tropez but I'm doing nothing else for six months."