A cyclist battled the elements to cycle from London to Paris in a day to support the fundraising of a Sidmouth teenager.

David Salter has currently raised around £1,600 for Charlotte Reid's ongoing campaign to fund brain tumour research, as the disease is amongst the biggest killers for people aged under 40.

The dad-of-two faced the worst weather condition in the cycle event's history when he set off from Greenwich observatory on Saturday, May 4, braving wind, rain, hail and delays to complete the gruelling 300km challenge in less than 23 hours.

The Sidmouth teenager, who has faced many spells in hospital due to her own brain tumour, has been backed by an 'army' of supporters to so far raise more than £24,000.

Her initial campaign was to reach £19,000, the amount required to fund one week of research into the disease.

Mr Salter, who lives in Sailsbury with his wife Jodie and daughters Erin and Bella, said: "The challenge was tough, a lot of miles and a lot of climbing I wasn't expecting and the weather didn't help, we experienced rain, hailstorms and high winds on both days - I'm told they are the worst conditions in the five year history of the event.

"The ferry docked 90 minutes behind schedule which didn't help our cause but I cycled with two other chaps who like me hadn't thought for one minute that we wouldn't do it in 24 hours, we all just got out heads down, grinded out the miles and made up the time."

"I was very aware that I am incredibly fortunate to be able enough physically to even attempt this challenge when others are not, I wasn't going to take that for granted."

The cyclist was backed by many Sidmouth businesses who pledged sponsorship to his jersey ahead of the cycle.

Mr Salter added: "The local businesses have been incredible, we have currently raised around £1,600 with some more still to come in. Family and friends have also been great. I had hoped for £1,000 so I am delighted with this total. I read a quote sometime ago from the company who organised the event - 'one day I will not be able to do this, today is not that day' and it's something I have kind of lived by ever since. Life is too short."

Visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-salter9 to donate to David's challenge