A SPONSORED bike ride which never leaves a pub is the latest novel way of fund-raising in Tavistock for the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.

The sponsored ride will start at the Duke of York in Tavistock on Saturday, September 7 and will continue until the following Saturday.

David Wells of the Duke of York said the idea was that people would have 15 minutes riding one of the two mountain bikes on machines — for which they would pay a minimum of £5.

'The person with the best mileage for the day will get a yellow T-shirt, and the daily winners will go through to the championship final on Saturday. The final winner will get £50 and a trophy,' he explained.

The mileage covered will be plotted on a map on the wall and the hope is to reach New York.

All proceeds will go to the Devon Air Ambulance, apart from on September 11.

On that evening the local emergency services have been invited to take part in the ride.

All the money raised from that will go to the New York family fund, which helps those families of the emergency services in New York who were bereaved by the disaster of September 11.

The Stannary Brass Band will be playing during that evening in the Europarts car park, kindly loaned for the event. This special evening will start at 7pm.

On other days, members of the public can have a go at riding all day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and from 3pm to 11pm on Monday to Thursday.

Entry forms and rules are available from the Duke of York, who can be contacted on 01822 614928.