MEMBERS of a pharmaceutical company based in Chippenham pedalled away for a good cause over the weekend as they cycled a gruelling 250 miles from Paris to Chippenham in just three days.

Six members of Alliance Pharmaceuticals, which is based in Bath Road, got their lycra on in Paris for the May250 challenge to raise £9,000 in aid of SANDS from May 10 to May 12.

"We had quite nice weather for the first few days but we did have once incident where one lady went into the back of another rider and broke a bit off her bike," facilities coordinator Andrew Beint, who organised the trip and supported the riders, said. "We tried to find her a replacement part but she had to use one of the replacement bikes in the end, which wasn't set up for her, and by the end of it she was a wreck but everyone finished!

"We decided to raise money for SANDS, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, because one of our members had two stillborns so it was quite pertinent and as a pharmaceutical company we like to keep things medical related.

"We have raised £9,000 so far and our target is £12,000 but we have got a charity auction coming up, with things like a chalet holiday in Austria up for grabs, so I am pretty confident that we can reach that. The company will also match the total pound for pound."

Staff from the company, who are also collectively walking 250 miles for the challenge in their lunch breaks, also met the riders on the final day to help them cross the finish line in the centre of Chippenham.

"Quite a few members of the office got the train down to us on the last day and got on their bikes to ride with us to the finish line," the 63-year-old said. "Some of the team were keen bikers already and others probably didn't do as much training as they should but we all finished for a good cause."