THEY did it – but only just – as a slight 90-minute hiccup forced a group of friends to miss the Forest section of the Round Britain Reliability Run.

All was going well for car enthusiasts Ted Taylor, Gordon Townley and Andrew Newman until they reached the Brecon Beacons to help a fellow participant.

Ted, who lives in Sling, said: “The nature of the run means if you come across a fellow participant in trouble then you have to try and help them. It just so happens we were en-route to Monmouth and Chepstow via St Briavels, and, unbeknown to us, we had the car part the owner of the car in trouble needed.

“Andrew is a mechanic so he said he could fix it but as a result it stalled us for 90 minutes and we had to miss the Forest section of the run which happened to run within half a mile of my home.”

The trio took it in turns to drive 2,000 miles non-stop from Stevenage in Hertfordshire to John O’Groats and back via Land’s End in 48 hours.

Ted added: “We had such a laugh along the way. You wouldn’t believe it but when we reached Land’s End we bumped into a couple from the Forest and got chatting. It was so much fun. The hack (a Triumph Mk2 2500 estate) – as ever – ran like a machine.”

This year the 25th run, organised by Club Triumph, is raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Ted and co have already exceeded its £1,500 sponsorship amount raised in 2014 for Macmillan Cancer Support and is keen to accept more donations at www.justgiving.com (search ‘Team 30 – The Vurest uv Dean Vlyers’).

Ted added: “It costs £90,000 to train two guide dogs so we’d love to get as much money as possible to help towards the cause.

“I am 72 years-old now and am hopeful I can take part in the next run in 2018.”