SUPPORTERS of the man who revealed in the 1980s that Israel was developing nuclear weapons have been in the region as part of a 500-mile cycle ride.

Nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu spent almost 18 years in prison for telling the Sunday Times that his country had joined the nuclear club. He stood trial after being drugged and kidnapped from Rome.

Cyclists are pedalling the 500 miles from the Faslane nuclear submarine base, in Scotland, to the Israeli embassy, in London.

The ride, organised by groups including CND and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, stopped in Darlington yesterday on their way to Ripon, North Yorkshire.