THEY cycled the length of Britain to justly earn their place in the Citizen's Little Champions' hall of fame.

A group of 25 pupils and six staff from Arnold School, in Blackpool, took on the mammoth task of pedalling from opposite ends of the country and meeting in Blackpool to raise money for the Macmillan Windmill Appeal.

At the end of June, seven girls and seven boys took on the 450 mile journey from Land's End to Blackpool, while a group of boys opted for the 520 mile trip from John O' Groats all the way home.

Mike Hall, the Cycle 2000 co-ordinator at Arnold School, said the trip took seven days to complete, involving a daily 8am start and finishing at around 6pm.

He said: "We were averaging around 75 - 80 miles a day on the road, which is a fair way to go on bikes. The months of training beforehand definitely paid off." The trip took a full year to organise, in terms of arranging the cyclists, training, sponsorship etc and it finally came to an end on July 5. The returning cyclists are pictured here celebrating in a shower of champagne.

Mike said that the event wasn't without its setbacks though, referring to an accident in which cyclist Helen Reid had a close shave. On the Land's End to Blackpool journey, she skidded on a diesel spillage in Chester on the penultimate day.

Mike said she was taken to hospital with pelvic injuries and was kept in from 3pm until 9pm: "The next morning she rode the last 50 miles purely because she didn't want to let us down.

"Every time she went over a bump she got a pain in her back. To me that really epitomises the team spirit."

In all the Cycle 2000 looks set to have raised around £20,000 in sponsorship. Mike summed the whole thing up when he said: "I think it was the relationship between pupils and staff that created a positive team spirit which, in turn, enabled the event to be such a big success. My philosophy is that it wasn't a race, it was about getting everyone to the finish."