HELPERS at the Oxfam shop in Borough Fields, Wootton Bassett, have raised about £1,000 on a sponsored walk for the charity.

Assistants Sharon Bish and Barbara Hicks completed their 90-mile trek along the Ridgeway from Overton Hill near Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon near Aylesbury in five days.

Shop manager Angie McCallum and her husband Neil joined them for two days, to cover the final 35 miles.

"We paid our own expenses, and had bed and breakfast at farmhouses en route," said Sharon.

"The weather wasn't too bad, but we had a couple of rainy days which made it quite slippery under foot.

"I'd only done about six miles of that route previously,but we'd all trained hard for some months before the walk, and it went really well. The balls of my feet felt a bit tender afterwards, but we had no blisters."

"The sheer exhilaration of reaching the end, and seeing those fantastic views, made it all worthwhile."

The four walkers praised the support and generosity of local people who sponsored their venture.

"It's been marvellous. So many have come into the shop with donations," they said. There is still time to contribute to the fund, to help Oxfam's work in the most needy parts of the world.

Fellow volunteers at the Oxfam shop in Wootton Bassett applauded their colleagues' efforts.

"We're full of admiration for them. I don't know how they did it," said a spokeswoman.