A SALISBURY man and three of his school friends are recovering after cycling across seven countries from Rome to London, raising £15,000 for charity in the process.

Alec Bartlett, 25, from Salisbury, completed the cycling expedition on Saturday alongside Henry Hunt, 25, from Kingston Deverill, Charlie Pushman, 25, from Basingstoke and Tom Bishop, 25, from Wincanton.

They decided to organise the trip to raise money for the Bone Cancer Research Trust after another friend was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer several years ago.

“We thought it would be a good idea to raise some money and awareness,” said Alec.

The four men flew to Italy on October 9 to begin their journey, travelling through seven countries and the Alps before arriving in Canterbury on Saturday to begin the final leg of the journey back to London.

“We organised people to come to Canterbury and we met 25 friends and family who had got the train down and we all cycled back to London,” said Alec.

“It was an excellent trip and all in aid of bone cancer research. We are very happy and have had amazing support by friends and family. We have all done marathons before, but this is the first proper expedition.”

As well as the trip, they organised a black tie charity ball in July, which was attended by 350 people and helped boost their fundraising.

All money raised will go to the trust, formed in 2005, which is devoted to promoting research into the causes and treatment of primary bone cancer.