WILTSHIRE police put on their running shoes last week as part of a race across Britain to raise money for a national children's charity.

Many of them beat the average time of the nine- minute mile during the national sponsored run which took place across the whole of Britain.

They were raising funds for national charity Wish Upon A Star, as part of

Operation Run For A Child.

The runners were only required to run one mile each, but with many experienced sprinters and marathon runners in the team, most ran at least three miles. The Wiltshire contingent, which had to run a 25-mile section of the course, included two married couples and a brother and sister.

Every force in the country got involved in the project, organised by Sgt Tony Hughes of Greater Manchester Police.

Wiltshire Police took the baton from Thames Valley Police on Thursday, for their leg of the run, which was organised and supervised by the force's physical training instructor, Tony Kerwick, who ran the first leg.

At 1pm, in South Cerney,

Wiltshire's Chief Constable, Dame Elizabeth Neville handed the baton across to representatives from Gloucestershire police.

The run started at Lands End on June 6 and finishes at John O'Groats tomorrow, having covered a total of 3,000 miles.

It is hoped around

£250,000 will be raised for the charity.

Others were members of the Officer Safety Training Team, a Chief Inspector, beat bobbies, staff from custody, traffic and local intelligence, HQ Corporate Development and the Chief Officer Team.

The last three miles were led by the Assistant Chief Constable, Mr Peter Vaughan, Deputy Chief Constable, Stephen Long, and finally the Chief Constable. All 27 runners joined Dame Elizabeth on the last mile as a real team effort.