TWO walkers trekked through the region yesterday on a 470-mile meningitis-awareness hike that began in Morpeth and finishes in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Steve Dayman and Steve Fear set off from Northumberland on Saturday on a 23-day walk that will see them passing through towns and villages that spell out meningitis B.

Their journey will take them to Morpeth, Easington Lane, Northallerton, Ilkley, Nelson, Glossop, Ilkeston, Tamworth, Islip, Southampton and Bournemouth.

Yesterday, they visited three County Durham schools, Haswell Primary, in Haswell East Durham, Fishburn Primary and Sedgefield Primary.

Today, they are expected in Darlington, before setting off for North Yorkshire.

The hike will raise money for national charity the Spencer Dayman Meningitis Laboratories, named after Mr Dayman's son, who died from meningitis 21 years ago.

Mr Dayman said: "We are visiting 60 schools on the way. We have already visited most of the classes we are visiting during the course of the year, when I've given assemblies and so on, so they're expecting us."

The two walkers hope to raise more than £100,000, which will fund research into meningitis and associated diseases.