A CYCLIST has 'climbed' a mountain to raise money for a children's charity.

For 51-year-old David Wood, courageously picked Crawleyside Bank at Stanhope to cycle up and down until he had achieved a combined height of £29,060ft - the height of Mount Everest.

He tackled the Everesting Challenge in aid of Heel and Toe, a charity which provides free therapy to children with cerebral palsy from its base at Pelton, near Chester-le-Street.

Mr Wood, from Wearside, tackled Crawleyside - which has an average gradient of 17 per cent - last month.

Starting from the Grey Bull pub, he completed the challenge tackling it 24 times over 14 hours and covering 98 miles.

He began at 4am in wet and windy conditions, joined for ten 'laps' by his friend Leyton Bainbridge.

Mr Wood, a keen cyclist who has taken part in parts of the Tour de France and the C2C three times, raised more than £1,000 for the charity.