A GROUP of farmers have gone the extra mile to raise money for Cancer Research UK by travelling hundreds of kilometres in their vintage tractors.

In June a group of 16 tractors set off on a 200 mile rally from Reeth in Swaledale to Windermere in the Lake District. The annual tractor run with Reeth and District Agricultural Society raised £854 for the charity.

Then, in July, five of the farmers and their tractors raised a further £500 for the charity by taking part in a tractor run from their Yorkshire Dales community to the Isle of Man. The group travelled to the west coast via Sedbergh to Heysham and then took a ferry to Douglas.

One of those who took part in the rally, Colin Longstaff, said: “We do a tractor run every year, but the one to the Isle of Mann was a one-off.

“It was the 100th anniversary of the South District Agricultural Society and they asked us if we would go for their centenary year.”

The money was presented to Cancer Research UK at Reeth Show on Monday, August 25.

Pam Ashmore, secretary of Teesdale Cancer Research, said: “We’d like to thank them very much. There’s a lot of great things happening at Cancer Research at the moment and this money will go to help cancer research in Newcastle.”