MORE than 400 volunteers dived into a muddy assault course at the weekend to raise funds for a County Durham Hospice.

Brave participants took on Butterwick Hospice's first 10k obstacle course in aid of the charity on Sunday.

Held in Hamsterley Forest, near Bishop Auckland, it involved everything from crawling through tree trunks to running through streams and jumping over hay bales during the 40-obstacle course.

The event raised £12,000 for the charity's Bishop Auckland hospice.

Charity fundraiser and event organiser, Milly Toner, said everyone had had a great time and a lot of fun being put through their paces.

She said: "It went really well and to raise that much has been absolutely amazing."

The charity hopes to make it an annual event.