A GRUELLING charity challenge has netted more than £2,000 for the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation.

Daryl Price and his Marathon Charity Truck Pull Team, pictured, hauled a 2.5 tonne truck a whopping distance of 27 miles around Poole.

The exhausting event began at picturesque Wareham Quay, before taking in Corfe, Sandbanks via Studland, Evening Hill, Lilliput, Poole, Hamworthy and Lytchett Minster.

The team ended where they began in Wareham, completing the distance in 11 and a half hours.

Members of the group spent six months training for the fundraiser, dragging tractor tyres along the promenade from Sandbanks to Boscombe and speed marching with weights along the coastal path.

Almost £600 was raised on the day alone from motorists and well-wishers, while online donations reached more than £1,500.

Pete Thornton said: “What an amazing achievement for this great team of guys.

“We are so grateful for this fantastic support and we are totally in awe of the effort involved in this challenge. The money raised will be directly invested in local young people and will help them to achieve their ambitions and dreams.”

The Foundation was set up in 2008 following the death of Royal Marines Officer John Thornton at the age of 22 while serving in Afghanistan.