A GROUP of spirited junior Melksham canoeists battled torrential wind and rain to paddle 100 miles in four days on the River Trent to raise £540 for charity.

Seven canoeists from the Wiltshire Youth Canoe Club took on the challenge and joined up with 57 other enthusiasts from different clubs up and down the country to raise money for Cancer Research UK after two coaches, John Davis and Michael Hill, were diagnosed with the disease.

The team set off from Little Haywood in Staffordshire and completed between 16 and 34 miles daily before finishing in Newark in Lincolnshire.

Chairman of the Wiltshire Youth Canoe Club, Andy Lloyd, said: "The organisers told us that the conditions were the worst they had ever seen on the river. It went very well but it was quite bad on the third day. It was so bad that the event organisers had to pull two groups out.

"It was really a fair distance for the guys to go and takes a phenomenal amount of effort especially with the rain. They were paddling for 15 hours on the third day. It is a proper endurance sport."

As well as raising money for Cancer Research the money will go towards a new changing room for the club as their current room is in dire need of renovation having

originally been constructed in the 1970s.

"We have made a few changes to the changing rooms ourselves but they are in desperate need of renovation. We are just trying to raise as much as we can for both us and Cancer Research to give our support," added Mr Lloyd.