HOUSING workers battled torrential rain to complete a 174-mile cycle challenge for charity.

A 14-strong team of cyclists from housing association Derwentside Homes tackled the Hadrian’s Cycleway route despite appalling weather to raise cash for charity.

The team raised an impressive £2,000 for the Charlie Bear For Cancer Care appeal, based at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.

David Graham, operations manager at Derwentside Homes, helped organise the three-day challenge from Ravenglass in Cumbria to Tynemouth, following much of the route of Hadrian’s Wall on the way.

Mr Graham said: "It was a tough route with some pretty impressive hills along the way and the weather wasn’t always on our side, but we all knew we were doing it for a fantastic cause and that kept us going.

This is the third major cycling challenge the team have taken on in recent years.

In 2011 they tackled the 135-mile Coast to Coast route, from Whitehaven to Sunderland and last year completed the 208-mile Coast and Castles route from Edinburgh to Newcastle, raising more than £5,000 for the Willowburn Hospice and the homelessness charity Crisis in the process.