A TRIO of motorcyclists are setting off from Newcastle, England, to Newcastle, Australia, to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Engineers Nigel Martin and Jonathan Turner ,from Corbridge, Northumberland, with friend and Sunderland University student Mark Bodger, are starting their two-wheeled circumnavigation of the globe on Wednesday.

The friends have spent the past year planning the four-month adventure, which will take them through some of the most remote yet beautiful areas of the world, including the Gobi Desert, Siberia, and the Silk Route, in Mongolia.

Mr Bodger said: "Russia is a country that holds many mysteries for us. We have no idea what we will find, especially up in the vastness of Siberia, but it is this mystery that creates the adventure."

Their progress can be followed at www.btheg.org, where supporters can also make a donation to Cancer Research UK.