A TEAM of cyclists pedalled to a fund-raising success in their bid to save lives in the Ribble Valley.

Stuart Raw and Mark Wilson, from Slaidburn, and Stephen Bennett, from Dunsop Bridge, raised £1,300 after pedalling a 100-mile round trip from the village, passing though Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancaster and Dunsop Bridge.

The money will go towards the running costs of the Bowland First Responders team, a group of trained volunteers that respond to 999 calls from heart attack victims through a bleeper system activated by the ambulance service.

Getting to a patient quickly can mean the difference between life or death as many remote areas around Slaidburn need a half-hour trek for ambulance crews.

The emergency team runs on a 24-hour rota basis and is still on the lookout for more recruits, with their current bank of 15 volunteers needing to be made up to 30. Volunteers operate in Slaidburn, Dunsop Bridge and Bolton-by-Bowland, and can carry out basic mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions, as well as operating an automatic portable defibrillator.

Each village now has its own defibrillator costing £3,600, after responders in Bolton-by-Bowland received their life-saving piece of equipment.

Dorothy Pearson, chairman of the Bowland First Responders, said: "It was a wonderful effort. Donations like this are vital to responders' running expenses. Disposable equipment and other things always need replacing.

"We are always on the lookout for more volunteers."

There will be a basic resuscitation session in Bolton-by-Bowland village hall tonight at 7.30 for anyone who wishes to learn first aid and become a responder. There will be another session on Tuesday, August 14.