FOUR Middlewich men were among a group of six to complete the Three Peaks challenge at the weekend, raising around £3,000 for the National Autistic Society.

Kyle Bennett, Mark Spanton, Martin Edwards and driver Ryan Kirk joined organiser Andrew Betteridge, of Warrington, and Sandbach-based Jamie Smith in attempting to climb the highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours.

The team completed the challenge with an hour and 20 minutes to spare, although Andrew, whose son has autism, suffered an injury on Ben Nevis which meant he could not continue.

Andrew, 31, wrote on JustGiving: “Had it not been for all the generous donations of people in the past then myself, my wife Jo and more importantly our son Noah may not have had the support we have had from the local community services since his diagnosis 12 months ago.”

Setting off at 2pm on Friday, the group tackled Ben Nevis, near Fort William in Scotland, before making the five-hour drive to the Lake District and climbing Scafell Pike through the night, despite getting lost in the darkness.

They then completed Snowdon in north Wales on Saturday afternoon, and Kyle, 29, says the impressive amount raised helped spur them on.

He said: “It was tough – a lot harder than we thought, to be honest. The difficulty is you can’t really replicate doing three climbs in a row with no sleep. I got about half an hour across the whole 24.

“Online, we are on about £2,200. I have a sponsor form at work with more than £300 and the other lads have a few hundred between them, so we are aiming towards £3000.

“It pushes you on. There were a few spots where we were in a bit of pain, but we had to think ‘there are a lot of people who have donated’. We didn’t want to let anyone down.

“It’s a brilliant feeling, getting to the end. We were all exhausted and had a big group hug at the top of Snowdon.

“Unfortunately Andrew couldn’t finish, but he raised money and helped us get through it. It is to raise awareness as much as anything else.”