A BURY man has embarked on a Top Gear style car challenge - by taking a ‘banger’ more than 200 miles and back again to Edinburgh for charity.

Damian McLaughlin drove the rusty, old vehicle to Edinburgh Castle on Saturday, October 17, in aid of the North West Air Ambulance service.

Kindly donated by BCC Hyundai Bury, Damian travelled with six others in three cars to Scotland, in a unique effort to raise money for the vital service.

Damian said: “The reason why we chose that charity is because we saw someone was doing it for the air ambulance in the West Midlands. I was researching it and found out that it relies entirely on donations to keep going.

Writing on his JustGiving page, Damian added: “The air ambulance is often overlooked but a crucial part of our emergency services. And it’s important that we support the NWAAC to keep this vital equipment up in the air and saving live.

“Please donate all money goes directly to the charity. Follow us on Facebook at Manchester to Scotland Banger Race 2020 for updates and a glimpse of the people and bangers involved.”

The group set off at 7am, finally completing their journey and getting home again at around 6pm.

Damian said his car had its true banger moments - playing up several times, with frequent pit stops to check out what was wrong.

His car was covered in rust, had a poor engine and had nothing working inside - ut he hopes to retain it for another challenge next year.

He said: “It went really well. We did have few problems with the car misfiring a few times but we did get there and back again - even if it was with a few scrapes and bangs.

“It did feel like Top Gear, when we were pulling over and fixing things.

"It was going quite slow at times and we did have people beeping at us but we’ve collected around £500, so we’re very happy.”

The North West Air Ambulance Charity takes advanced healthcare to scene; reaching, treating and transferring patients to definitive care as quickly as possible and working collaboratively with partners to ensure they are transferred to the best treatment centre thus improving chances of survival and reducing the risk of long term injury.

The service is funded by the public through donations and, fundraising activities.