BLACKLANDS Leisure Club presented a cheque for £1,320 to Wiltshire Air Ambulance after members rowed the English Channel without setting foot on a boat.

In November, 44 members of the club, in Stockley Lane, took it in turns on a rowing machine in the gym to cover the equivalent distance from Dover to Calais and back.

Members started the 80km journey at 9am and finished their non-stop rowing at 9pm.

Organiser Rupert Crockett presented the cheque to the grateful air ambulance last Wednesday.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance's appeal administrator Mary Laing, said: "Blacklands has raised a lot of money in the past and we're very grateful for all the hard work."

She added that the service relied on donations to keep running.