TWO British bikers are on the road again following a dramatic ten-hour helicopter rescue after they were caught in a blizzard in Turkey.

Rory Elliott and Chris Colling, both 28, narrowly escaped death after becoming trapped in heavy snow.

It happened near the village of Dereici, near the south eastern town of Yuksekova, on the Iran-Iraq border on Tuesday.

Mr Elliott is from Billy Row, near Crook, County Durham, and Mr Colling is from Leeds.

The men are raising money for SOS Children, a UK charity for orphaned and abandoned children, with a marathon motorbike trek from Beijing to London.

But they were forced to send their own SOS message to Turkish authorities when they were caught in heavy snow, which has paralysed much of east Turkey.

The pair were taken to Yuksekova in a military helicopter and given food and shelter.

They stayed in a local Government hostel and set off on the next leg of their journey towards Sarajevo yesterday morning.

Last night, Mr Elliott's father, Simon, of Billy Row, said: "The first we heard was when someone phoned me up and said he had been rescued.

"We had about an hour-and-a-half not knowing what happened, but we managed to get in touch with the Turkish authorities. He phoned up the night it happened and left a jolly message on his sister's phone and that must have been his way of saying he is OK.

"It is a massive relief for the family to know he is safe."

Rory and Chris left Beijing in August and have so far travelled through six countries and covered more than 5,000 miles. On the way, sound engineer Mr Colling and Mr Elliott, who organises overseas expeditions, have visited SOS Children's Villages, including one in Lahore, Pakistan.

They are planning to return to the UK in the middle of March.

To find out more about their travels, visit www.moto-hike.co.uk/moto-about.htm

To support the charity, text karrimor to 60999. It costs £1.50 and 88p goes to charity. Senders will be entered in a draw to win a Yamaha motorbike.