YOUNG farmers have raised more than £12,000 for Colchester General Hospital.

Essex Young Farmers took part in a charity bike ride in aid of the Mary Barron Suite.

The14 participants cycled 300 miles to Blackpool, in just four days.

They raised £12,000, smashing their original target of £4,000.

They handed over a cheque to staff at the Mary Barron Suite in respect of a young farmer with cancer.

The man in his twenties from Colchester, who did not want to be named, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer last year.

Sara Skinner, who organised the cycle, said: “I don’t think any of us could believe how much we raised. I know the Mary Barron Suite really helped him and he wanted to fundraise for them.”