Charity team pulling field gun across South West

The Military vs Cancer team has reached the South West as part of its challenge to pull a field gun across Britain

A team who have pulled a one tonne field gun across Britain for a charity challenge are heading towards the end of their journey.

Hundreds of people dragged the artillery cannon from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End in Cornwall to raise money for Military vs Cancer, who support military personal, veterans or their families affected by cancer.

The team, who have travelled about 890 miles (1,432km) so far during the challenge, passed through Okehampton and Holsworthy in Devon and reached Bude in Cornwall on Friday.

Rob Smith, who lives in Saltash, said the challenge was bringing military personal together.

The gun being pulled in the challenge weighs about one tonne (1,000kg)

Mr Smith said he wanted to take part in the challenge for one day because his wife had been affected by cancer in the past.

"It turns out two of the guys who are here I served in the marines with for 20-odd years ago," he said.

Military vs Cancer chief executive Dave Bathgate said the charity wanted to break down barriers around talking about and dealing with cancer.

"Cancer is cancer - it's a tough one to deal with but we see it from the perspective of military personal and they just don't want to reach out for help," he said.

Military vs Cancer chief executive Dave Bathgate said the team had travelled about 890 miles (1,432km) with the gun

Ethan Lockwood-Morris, who is training with the Royal Marines, said although no-one close to him had been affected by cancer, he wanted to get involved.

He said: "Walking alongside people who have served for 30-plus years and hearing all their stories about what the navy was like in their time has been great."

Training officer Charly Beeson said there had been a lot of women taking part in the challenge, including herself.

She said the toughest parts has been pulling the field gun downhill.