Norwich firefighters raise money for Comic Relief

A group of firefighters swapped their usual uniform for grey wigs and walking sticks as they dressed up as old ladies and cycled 300 miles for Comic Relief.

The firefighters from Norwich International Airport's blue watch team entertained shoppers as they completed their 300 mile challenge - the distance of a flight from Norwich to Amsterdam - on exercise bikes at The Mall Norwich yesterday.

By midday they were delighted to have already smashed their fundraising target of �500.

Chris Knock, who came up with the fundraising idea along with Karl Appleton, said: 'We wanted to do something completely different to draw a crowd and raise money for a great cause. The event was about doing something funny for Red Nose Day.'

The four firefighters who donned flowery dresses and pearls and between them cycled 300 miles were Karl Appleton, Mark Matless, Ricky Townsend and Brydon Midleton.

Some of their colleagues also joined them for the day to do bucket collections and tell shoppers about their work at the airport, and two 'Airport Angels' were also there helping with the fundraising by selling raffle tickets to win two return flights to Guernsey.

The airport is also holding a Fun Friday event for Red Nose Day on Friday.

For more information about the event and to help the firemen with their fundraising go to http://my.rednoseday.com/norwichairportfireservice