A MARRIED couple are putting their endurance to the test with a 1,500-mile drive from Blackpool to Benidorm dressed as Batman and Robin in a Batmobile.

Sue and Alex Leighton of Darlington will start their zany challenge on May 5 and hope to complete the cross-country journey in just five days.

Their ‘Batmobile’ will be an aged Vauxhall Carlton modified to look like the superhero’s car and the caper has been inspired by Mr Leighton’s fondness for the Only Fools and Horses episode in which Rodney and Del Boy dress as the comic book characters.

The couple hope that their efforts will raise £1,500 for the Manchester-based anti-slavery charity Hope for Justice.

Their endeavour is being complemented by their friend Kelvin Marsh, also of Darlington, who will cycle 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John O-Groats in ten days this September.

He also hopes to raise £1,500 to add to the Leighton’s amount.

Mr Marsh, who is chief executive of the Darlington Foodstore Network of foodbanks, explained the motivation behind the charity challenges.

He said: “Alex said he would never go to Benidorm in his life and I never, ever, thought that I would be able to cycle 1,000 miles in my life so we decided to take on these challenges because they were things that we never thought we’d do.”

Keen cyclist Mr Marsh will have to average 100 miles a day if he is to complete his mission – with the longest day presenting a 138-mile stretch – but he is confident that he can achieve his goal.

“I am training generally, some days doing anything up to 75-miles and other days a bit less,” he said.

“I also have a rolling road so that I can train regardless of the weather.”

In preparation for the Lands End route, Mr Marsh is taking part in two long-distance rides before September, tackling Derby to Amsterdam first, followed by Cardiff to London.