A father and son duo from Horrabridge have successfully completed a 260-mile cycle ride from London to Paris.

Luke Clement and son James, who has just turned 11, completed the challenge over a week earlier in August.

They started at the London Eye in central London and finished at the Eiffel Tower.

Proud dad Luke said James had done spectacularly well.

Day four was the hardest, between the port of Dieppe and the little town of Chaussy, and the hills proved the toughest part of all. But they kept at it, and spending each night in a different town, arrived in Paris on August 10, to have their photo taken in front of the Eiffel Tower.

They have exceeded their target of raising £3,000 for St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth, in memory of James’s great-grandfather David Rooke - known as ‘big Dave’ to one and all. He was cared for at the hospice after being diagnosed with cancer. In total, they’ve raised £3,300 and their JustGiving page is still open.

Proud dad Luke said: “James has been an avid cyclist for years now. He’s only just turned 11 and last year we did a cycle ride for Macmillan Cancer Support and we’ve also done the Devon Coast-to-Coast Ride which is 100 miles. Then this year we wanted to do something for St Luke’s because they took care of James’s great-grandfather before he passed away and we thought what can we do that is more of a challenge – and we thought, London to Paris!”

The route taking via the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry crossing was 250 miles. “We ended up doing 260 miles,” said Luke. “We started at the London Eye and finished at the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing.”

“I think the fourth day was probably the hardest. We got to the point where you wonder if you are ever going to make it. It is a tough challenge, particularly for such a young lad, it is a long time to be pedalling. He did incredibly well and I’m super proud of him.

“The hills are the hardest part, it is not the flattest of routes. There is a lot of climbing which is particularly tough. The fourth day was just after we got across the Channel. We did three days to get to the ferry and on the following day, once across the Channel, we cycled from Dieppe to Chaussy. We were totally exhausted.”

He said the fact that they had to get to their accommodation each evening spurred them on. “We didn’t have any support with us, it was just me and James. We managed to book hotels along the route and that made it more important to do the miles to get there! We didn’t have any choice, it was a case of waking up and getting going.”

Two things stood out for him as highlights – the satisfaction of completing the challenge and the time spent chatting with his son.

“I don’t think I have ever spent 200 hours with James having nothing else to do but chat to each other, which was amazing bonding time.”

See the duo’s fundraising page ‘London to Paris for St Luke’s’ on the Just Giving website to donate.