'We ran up Wrekin to prepare Dragons' Den pitch'

Dan Westall and Naomi Walmsley run a Stone Age-themed business

A couple set to appear on Dragons' Den said they deliberately put themselves under pressure as they practised their business pitch - by tackling a landmark hill and lifting weights.

Naomi Walmsley and Dan Westall from Telford went up the Wrekin at "high speed", they said.

The pair run a Stone Age-themed business on the Shropshire-Staffordshire border that offers an interactive, hands-on experience of living like ancient humans. Their bid for investment is set to feature on the BBC One show on Thursday evening.

Mr Westall said the pair needed a challenge and thought "what a place to do it, against some dragons", he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

Of applying for the show, he added: "We wanted to grow as a company, and push ourselves bigger, and being uncomfortable like that makes you grow."

But their appearance in front of the famous multi-millionaire investors was "over before we knew it", said Ms Walmsley.

Naomi Walmsley and Dan Westall on Dragons' Den

Mr Westall compared the experience to skydiving.

"I jumped out of a plane once with a parachute, and you don't realise what's going on until you've landed, and that's what the show was like.

"It was only after, when you get chance to breathe, you think 'I don't really know what happened just then'."

To get used to pressure, Ms Walmsley said: "We would practice in the gym with heavier weights than we were used to, and go high speed up the Wrekin, so we could add stress to the pitch."

There was no point reading a pitch while "cosy and warm in your living room, without the adrenaline pumping," she added.

The pair said they would be watching the show with family, and were "a little bit nervous, but very excited to watch it unfold".