THREE friends who unicycled from coast to coast have allocated some of the money raised by their venture to Oxhill Youth Club, near Stanley.

Roger Davies, of Norton, Stockton, and his friends Sarah Miller and Paul Selwood, from Reading, are also aiming to raise the awareness of the rare Rett Syndrome, a neurological disorder. Mr Davies, 36, said that his niece was a sufferer.

Of the unicycling venture he said: "Unicycling is really hard on your body and this was a cruel route with a lot of hills on the first day.

"We hope to raise a few hundred pounds for the youth club and the Rett Syndrome Assoc-iation but the main thing is to raise awareness of the condition.

"I've been unicycling for about 25 years and sell unicycles for a living - but the coast-to-coast route is hard to do in two days even on a normal bike. What we did hurt like hell.