Staffordshire teacher in Christmas Day cycle challenge

Will Smith cycled for almost 14 hours on Christmas Day to complete his charity challenge

A teacher has raised more than £2,000 by cycling 277 miles on Christmas Day.

Will Smith, from Staffordshire, spent almost 14 hours on his exercise bike with each mile representing one day since lockdown restrictions started.

Mr Smith said cycling had helped his mental health during the pandemic and the money he raised will be donated to North Staffordshire Mind.

"It was far from easy, there were some testing times," he said, but he added that he wanted "to make a difference".

Mr Smith started the challenge at 05:25 GMT and finished at 22:10, with a moving time of 13 hours and 45 minutes.

"I'm looking in the Boxing Day sales for a new bottom," he joked.

Other cyclists joined Mr Smith for part of his challenge on online platform Zwift

He used the online cycling platform Zwift from his garage which allowed some of his supporters to join him as avatars for part of his ride which he said was "a brilliant experience".

"I'm still trying to process the whole day," he said. "It was probably the best and worst experience."

He chose 277 miles as his target after counting how many days had passed since lockdown was enforced on 23 March.

"I thought, it's a massive distance but it has some meaning and it gave me a purpose," he said.

The PE teacher is yet to have his Christmas dinner but said he didn't feel like he had "given up" his Christmas Day.

"We've all had to adjust and make sacrifices this year and we've not been able to have a Christmas how it's usually been," he said.

"I didn't feel I was giving it up because hopefully it's going to make a lot of difference to people."