TWO farming friends are travelling across the globe in an old banger which they have pimped up to look like a fox.

Stuart Jowers, who owns The Fox Inn in West Mersea, and his friend Leonie Parkins, are taking part in the Dumball 2018 challenge starting today.

They, along with 46 other drivers, will travel across France, Switzerland, Austria, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, and Corfu in a challenge to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Mr Jowers, 38, said: “I heard about the challenge about ten years ago when a friend of a friend did it.

“Leonie and I realised we were just working all the time so we decided to sign up and got accepted.

“We had to find a car under £500, the first one I bought had a few problems but now we have an R reg Rover 600.”

The team has called themselves Ag Fab, with Ag being an abbreviation of agriculture, as the pair met as young farmers.

To honour their love of farming they have dressed the car up as a giant fox, adding paw prints and a fox’s nose on the front.

Stuart added: “We have also bought a load of inflatable farm animals to fill the back of the car and we can hand out to children along the way.

“We have raised £4,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. It is the Dumball’s tenth year and they are trying to hit £10 million.”

The Dumball is a non profit organisation which mocks the famous annual Gumball Rally, a driving challenge for those with more cash.

Dumball organisers decided to create the ultimate “peasant’s road trip”.

The Dumball website explains: “What we do is straight forward really. We all buy a cheap car, do it up beyond all belief, get in fancy dress, then drive in convoy to a far away place, and 99 percent of us simply leave the car at our destination, get on a plane, and fly right home.”

“We stick together, we arrange big parties, we shout, sing, dance and have a little drink.That’s what we do.

“We’re now in our tenth year and have so far driven to Athens, Istanbul, Corfu, Helsinki, Sicily, Odessa, the Sahara Desert, and next we’re hitting the sub-continent of India - just saying.”

The friends are looking forward to the event, but it is strictly not a holiday. It will be the ultimate challenge.

Stuart added: “After we booked it we realised neither of us had driven off the continent. We did a quick weekend crash course.

“It’s going to be interesting, on one of the days we have to cover 600 miles in a day.”

To donate to their fundraising page visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/agfab. To find out more visit dumball.org.