A FATHER and son from Redditch have completed a gruelling 100-mile cycle race from London to Surrey raising £1,585 for a local charity.

Dave Alekna and son Joe completed the Ride London to Surrey 100 event in six hours 36 minutes for Primrose Hospice, an independent charity that offers advice and support to cancer patients and their families in Redditch and Bromsgrove.

The duo were among 35,000 cyclists who pedalled from London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to Surrey where they followed a similar route covered by cyclists at the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Joe, co-founder of Redditch jobs firm Workforce Recruitment, said: “This is the second time we’ve taken part in the event which is a brilliant challenge and a great way to raise money for a local charity which does so much for so many.

“We cycled hundreds of miles as part of our training over the past few months, but cycling for more than six hours and over some tough terrain wasn’t easy.

“However, we managed to make it to the finishing line at Buckingham Palace so I am glad our hard work and training paid off - while raising awareness of the amazing work Primrose Hospice does for families in North Worcestershire.”

Primrose Hospice, which is Workforce’s 2017 chosen charity, needs £1.75 million every year to keep running all its services, but gets less than a fifth of its funding from the NHS.

The charity relies heavily on voluntary donations.