TWO Ellesmere Port men who work for Chester Zoo got in the saddle to raise hundreds of pounds for worthy causes.

Robert Roberts and Andy Adderton, who both work for the zoo in the maintenance team, recently got on their bikes and cycled nearly 300 miles from London to Paris.

Robert was inspired to take on the challenge after needing open heart surgery last year.

He explained: "I wanted to be able to give something back for the great care I had received and I also wanted to set myself a challenge to help with my recovery and get back fit again.

"I'd not long started cycling before my op, unlike Andy who has been cycling for a lot longer. He'd heard of the London to Paris challenge and we spurred each other on."

Speaking about the challenge itself, Robert added: "It was very tough, we were determined to finish but I did not realise everywhere in France was uphill – or at least, it felt that way!"

Robert chose the British Heart Foundation as his nominated charity.

For Andy, he picked Cancer Research UK in memory of his dear friend, also called Andy. The pair had been friends for over 35 years until he passed away in March 2015 of cancer.

People can still donate to the fundraiser, with proceeds to be split evenly between the two charities. Robert's Justgiving page is www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-cartwright17 while Andy's fundraising page is fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/addo9-london-to-paris-2019.