CYCLING enthusiasts Lee Gowland and Phil Jones aim to complete one of the most gruelling routes in Europe this month in aid of two local charities.

The pair will spend their summer holidays cycling across the backbone of the French Pyrenees.

In just ten days they will ride 827km from Cerbere on the Mediterranean coast to the town of Hendaye on the Bay of Biscay.

Each day they will face a different challenge cycling for at least six hours up some of the steepest mountain ranges in the world - many of which form the Tour de France route.

Lee, an accountant from Etherley Dene, hopes to raise £1,000 for the Butterwick Hospice in Bishop Auckland.

The 32-year-old said: "It is a local charity, helping people facing cancer so I want to try and help a cause on the doorstep."

Phil, an accounts manager from Toft Hill, is raising funds for a regional motorneuron charity, inspired by his uncle, George Brown, of Ferryhill, who has had the condition for ten years.

Phil, aged 34, said: "It is one of the hardest things you can do on a bike, which is why we want to complete it. The sense of achievement and inspiration for the charities will help us."

Both have completed tough rides before, including a trek through the Himalayas, but admit this will be one of the toughest they have faced.

A guide book describes the path - known as the Raid Pyreneen - as 'only for those who really like hills, hills and more hills, ten days in a row.'

And it is officially classed as 'hors categorie' meaning it is so difficult it is beyond classification because of the 16,000m of 28 steep slopes.

Lee said: "That is part of the appeal, we are going for the challenge."

Phil added: "I've been skiing in the Pyrenees before and it is a wonderful area, more spectacular than the Alps because it is untouched and less tourist-based."

A third cyclist, Stewart Ellis, of Cumbria, will join the pair and a friend will drive the route for back-up.