STAFF from a green charity in Derwentside got on their bikes to promote the cause of sustainable transport.

Stephen McDonald and Kath Ivens, workers with the Acorn Trust, in Delves Lane, rode the 126-mile Coast to Coast cycle route along with trustees chairman Brian Stobbs over the weekend.

The charity is celebrating its tenth anniversary and the riders returned to Derwentside in time for the official opening of the Kyo Greenways, a series of paths linking villages in the Stanley area with the popular C2C route.

The project has been carried out with Derwentside District Council and has involved tree planting in some places.

Greenways project leader Stephen McDonald said: "It went better than expected, although there have been a few places where I personally would have wanted to stop.

"We started from Whitehaven on Friday morning at 9am and stopped overnight.

"We have raised in the region of £350, all of which is going back into the work we do in Derwentside. It is a good amount. The whole idea of the ride was to celebrate our tenth anniversary and also promote sustainable transport and Derwentside."