NINE friends scaled three of Britain's highest mountains in under 24 hours to raise money for a charity that supports wounded soldiers.

The team of men, mostly from the Berkeley area, included Keith Eamer and Ian Pitts, who are both ex-army and are passionate about raising money for Help for Heroes.

They decided to raise the cash by taking on one of Britain's toughest trials, the Three Peaks Challenge, which saw them scale Ben Nevis, Snowden and Scafell Pike all in 23 hours and 25 minutes, including the time it took them to drive between the mountains.

The gruelling hike paid off as they believe they have raised at least £3,000 for Help for Heroes, a charity that offers practical and direct support for British soldiers wounded in conflict.

Keith, a former member of the parachute regiment, said: "Everybody did absolutely brilliantly, no one held the team up and we would especially like to thank our drivers Dave Cheal and Daryl Thomas, because we couldn’t have done the challenge without them."

Most of the team were members of The Fitness Farm in Cattle Country, Berkeley, where Ian, who served in the Royal Gloucestershire regiment for five years, is now a personal trainer, so they were ready for the physical challenge. What they didn’t count on was the difficult weather conditions, including snow and strong winds on all of the peaks.

"The weather conditions were really, really bad," said Keith. "There was lots of snow to contend with. But we had a great time."

Not content with just the three peaks, the group of friends completed a sponsored walk in March from Clifton Down in Bristol to Berkeley, which raised £1,600 to go towards to their total.

Keith added: "We are really delighted with what we have achieved. We are really grateful to the Berkeley community because most of the donations came from people and businesses in the town."

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