Walkers take to the Malvern Hills to raise money for Help for Heroes

The Malvern Hills Challenge raised at least £6,647 for the charity that helps wounded service personnel, with money still coming in.

The walk offers two routes, of seven and 15 kilometres, to attract walkers of all abilities.

The day started at the car park in Priory Road, where coaches from Astons took people taking part in the long walk to Bromsberrow at the southern end of the Malvern Hills.

Later in the day, the coaches took the short walk participants to British Camp, where they joined the trek heading towards the finish line in Rose Bank Gardens.

Walkers were greeted at the finish by Malvern mayor Cynthia Palmer and Hero the Bear to present them with their medals, as the Malvern Boys’ and Girls' Brigades band provided music and a marching display.

Tim Kidwell of the organising committee said: "The challenge is certainly not a walk in the park, and several entrants later confessed to underestimating its length and severity of the hills’ climbs. There was a wide range of abilities and ages; the youngest to cover the long walk was nine years old.

"Ellis Gilbert, from Norton, was again the first finisher in an amazing two hours seven minutes, three minutes faster than his time last year.

"Very well done to all the entrants and a special thank you to our sponsors and to the organisers Gordon Waddell, Janet Smith and Helen Kidwell. There were plenty of tired but smiling faces and not a little sweat."

The challenge will return next year, and anyone looking to take part can visit malvernhillschallenge.org.