A SCOOTER club made its first charity ride one to remember by dedicating the journey to a lost friend and quadrupling its fundraising target.

The Green Tree Scooter Club raised £2,000 in sponsorship for the Great North Air Ambulance Service with a cross-country journey in memory of pal Chris Weighill.

The dad-of-two, from Bishop Auckland, had been training to cycle the C2C when he suddenly collapsed and died in May, aged just 44.

He was a well-known and popular character in the town and knew many members of the club who decided to hold a memorial ride to mark its first anniversary at the weekend.

Neil Colwell, a founder member, said: “He was a good friend to many in Bishop and Barnard Castle, where he worked at Glaxo, and, though he didn’t ride, lots of our members knew him.

“He was a great lad, everyone misses him and wanted to do something in his memory.

“We hope this was a fitting tribute, especially for the air ambulance which is so important living where we live.

“Anyone on wheels knows they could need their help, if you are in the middle of nowhere and need a hospital it is a long way to Darlington or Carlisle by road.”

Each scooterist clocked up about 250 miles by travelling from the club’s base at The Green Tree pub, in Bishop Auckland, to Cumbria on Saturday before completing a coast to coast route from Whitehaven to Seaton Carew the next day.

Before the team of 20 scooters, three motorcycles and a support van provided by Durham Interiors set off, some of those closest to Mr Weighill visited his partner Sarah Jackson and their sons Joe and Louis.

Mr Colwell added: “It was a lovely way to start, they were moved by what we were doing.

“We might have engines but it was still pretty tough-going, the scooters range from 125cc to 200cc and they spent plenty of time in first gear.

“We had some vicious winds to deal with and some of the roads, especially Hardknott Pass, were hard.

“The ride was a challenge and we were all very stiff afterwards but it was brilliant fun and we're so chuffed it looks like we raised £2,000, we only set out to raise £500.”