A TRIO of hardy hikers from Warrington and Newton are in the middle of an arduous fundraising challenge.

Chris McAlpine, aged 36, of Hawthorn Avenue, Stockton Heath, Lindsay Woodward, aged 23, and Jack Colbeck, aged 26, both from Birley Street, Newton, have joined other former members of Lancaster University Hiking Club to walk the Pennine Way.

The group is aiming to complete the 270-mile relay style event through mountains, moorland and forest in just four days.

Teams set off from the Scottish village of Kirk Yetholm on Tuesday and aim to reach Edale in Derbyshire on Saturday.

All the money raised will be donated to the Back-Up Trust, a charity for people who have become paralysed through spinal-cord injury.

Mike Amberry, event organiser, said: "Walking the Pennine Way in a relay has been very difficult to organise because it involves a lot of time planning to make sure that teams are in their starting places in time for the finishers of the last leg. The fact that this will be going on all through the day and night for four days will be a challenge in itself but one which we're all really looking forward to.

"We chose to raise money for the Back-Up Trust because it is something that could happen to any one of us through pursuing outdoor activities. More than 1,000 people each year in the UK have a traumatic accident in which they are spinally injured."

Visit website www.backuptrust.org.uk to find out more.