SUPPORTERS have used pedal power to help keep a helicopter in operation.

Eight Teesside power workers cycled 135 miles coast-to- coast to raise more than £2,000 for the North Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the Cleveland Child Development Unit.

Bosses at px limited, who manage the Teesside Gas Processing Plant, doubled the money they raised to take the donation to £4,500.

Cyclists Geoff Cowen, Paul Atkinson, Peter Oxley, Ian Mallon, Neil Glasper, Paul Sill, Stephen Wennington and Jon Paul Venus battled through strong winds, heavy rain and poor visibility on their marathon between Whitehaven and Sunderland.

Mr Cowen, a shift team leader at px limited, said: "At times we were cycling into strong winds and even had to pedal to get downhill."