HARNESS racers have handed over £2,000 after holding a charity race day.

The money was raised by the Eden Valley Harness Racing Association, which held a special charity meeting at Wolsingham show ground in Weardale, County Durham.

About 250 turned out for the day of racing, which was held in September, raising around £2,000 through sponsorship and an auction supported by local businesses.

The organisation has now donated £1,000 to Macmillan Cancer and £500 to both The Great North Air Ambulance and Cancer Research.

This is the second year the organisation has held a charity meeting and it already has plans for another one next September.

Eden Valley chairman Derek Jones said: “We used to have a meeting at Eggleston show in September but we couldn’t do that so we decided to carry it on as a charity meeting elsewhere.

“We had a good day of racing and we had some really good finishes. It’s definitely something we hope to keep doing as an organisation.”

Macmillan volunteer Kevin Richardson, who collected the cheque on behalf of the charity, said: “We have no public funding so we rely on heavily on donations like this. It’s fantastic to have such a large amount which will be going to help people in the North East who have been affected by cancer.”

The association, which covers the North of England, including Cumbria, hosts around 16 or 17 meetings each year, between May and September.