IT was a case of survival of the fittest for a team of dedicated fund-raisers who travelled to three countries in 24 hours to tackle a trio of mountains.

The workers, from James Halstead in Radcliffe, took part in the Three Peaks Challenge at the weekend.

Danny Thompson (50), Kevin Kay (39), Patrick Farley (40), Allan Johnston (32), Andy Johnston (29), David Kimber (59) and John Hughes (38) were sponsored to climb Scotland's Ben Nevis, England's Scafell Pike, and Snowdon in Wales.

But it proved too much of a mountainous task for two of the team, who had to drop out. David Kimber was too exhausted after climbing Ben Nevis to make the other two ascents and Andy Johnston was forced to give up after Scafell Pike because of blisters.

But the team raised around £3,500 for the charity Children's Aid Direct. They also came third out of 28 teams taking part, completing the three peaks in 22 hr 23min.

Mr Thompson said: "The views were spectacular, particularly from Ben Nevis, which was very clear."

He added: "I was panicking a bit in Wales because I wanted to see the Manchester United match. I stepped up the pace a bit and virtually jogged down so I could watch it on television."

But sadly there were no televisions available so Mr Thompson had to content himself with listening to it on the radio instead!

Pictured getting a majestic view from the top of Ben Nevis is Patrick Farley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.