Former and serving police officers row across Atlantic for charity

The Status Code 14 team arrived in Antigua at the end of their 60-day challenge

A team of former and serving police officers have completed a 3,000 mile (4,800km) row across the Atlantic.

The three men named their team Status Code 14, a police radio request for an urgent call back, help or assistance.

They are taking on five endurance challenges over four years for men's mental health and cancer charities.

Between them they have also completed a London to Paris Triathlon relay, and a 75-mile (120km) run across Scotland.

The rowing team was made up of Steve Dredge, from Wadebridge in Cornwall, a retired Devon and Cornwall Police firearms officer, Simon Lemon, a serving firearms officer in Plympton, and Matt Inglesby, an MoD police officer based in Faslane in Scotland.

The trio set off from the Canary Isles in December and rowed across the Atlantic Ocean to Antigua - arriving on 10 February at Nelson's Dockyard.

The team spent 60 days at sea in sometimes challenging conditions

Mr Dredge said being back on land after 60 days at sea was like "the first time coming back to Earth after being away".

He was diagnosed with PTSD in 2017 and said there were "tough" times, as well as times of "absolute pure joy" while the team were at sea.

"We're very very lucky, we've obviously known each other for a while before this, and the team dynamic is very very good," he added.

'Particularly brutal'

"Because of our backgrounds...we're used to being in some interesting situations shall we say, but nothing can compare to that out there, I mean, it was particularly brutal, it was particularly tough, and the bond is probably stronger now than it ever was before."

Money raised by the team is being donated to men's cancer charity The Chestnut Appeal and mental health charity Rock2Recovery.

The Status Code 14 team is now training for the fourth leg of the five-part challenge, a 10-day ultra-marathon across Iceland, which is set to take place in August.

The fifth and final challenge will see the team head to Chamonix to climb Mont Blanc, before flying back to Chamonix on paragliders.