Villagers will turn into fugitives for the day as they escape from Chelmsford’s prison to reach Turkey within 15 hours.

Committee members of the Colne Engaine War Memorial Project hope to raise at least £3,000 for the project and the Essex Girls and Boys Clubs by undertaking the great escape.

Project chairman Spike Townsend along with Darran Lingley, licencee of the Five Bells pub, in Colne Engaine, Alison Jones and Gareth Jones all hope to reach the Helles war memorial on the Gallipoli Peninsula - 1,884 miles away from Chelmsford - without spending any of their own money.

They will fly from Gallipoli to Instanbul and drive five hours to Helles in full First World War costume.

When they arrive, they will leave a wreath to Colne Engaine soldier, Lance Corporal Stanley Butcher, 5th Suffolk Regiment, who died in Gallipoli on August 12, 1915.

Mr Townsend said: “It’s going to be very tight for time, it’s not meant to be easy.

“We set the challenge first and then worked out how to get there in the time frame."

See this week's Halstead Gazette for the full story.