FOUR brothers from Okehampton have completed a gruelling 'Ben Nevis Challenge' to raise money for the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.

In 2012 one of the four brothers, Tom Diffey, was airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital after collapsing with heat exhaustion during the Moreton-hampstead Carnival 10k fun race.

The brothers —Matthew, Tom, Simeon and Sam – had fundraised for the air ambulance before the incident but upon learning that the rescue would have cost around £3,000, Tom decided to pay that amount back to the charity.

The four brothers signed up for the Ben Nevis Challenge, which requires competitors to climb up and walk back down Britain's highest mountain before cycling 25 miles and finishing with a three mile canoe around Loch Lochy.

Out of 88 teams competing on June 20 the lads from Okehampton managed to win the entire event.

The team had made the eleven hour journey to the Ben Nevis base camp the previous day with a support team of parents, wives and children.

Tom Diffey said: 'We had all been training for the event and despite running on Dartmoor, nothing could have prepared us for the snow and the low temperatures on top of Ben Nevis. We didn't hang around at the summit for too long!

'It was amazing to take part in the event and all the other teams were really encouraging. We were hoping to complete the event and raise lots of money for Devon Air Ambulance so winning was a total bonus.

'We didn't realise we were in the lead until we came down from Ben Nevis so we felt the pressure then and really rode hard for the bike leg of the challenge.

'We want to thank everyone who has sponsored us for the event. We have been bowled over by the amount of money donated.'