STAFF at an Ilkley company are gearing up for a gruelling canal side cycle challenge in aid of charity.

The workers from Optident, based in Valley Drive are dusting off their bikes and polishing bells as they prepare to take part in a 127-mile ride along the Leeds Liverpool Liverpool canal.

The team of ten who all work at Optident will be cycling the full distance over 3 days from May 9 to May 11.

The team consists of Tim Butterfield, managing mirector, John Maloney, sales director, Chris Leetham, James Fowler, Richard Walker, Steven Hepton, Rob Bridgewater and Rebecca Fowler who all work in sales and marketing at Optident.

The team will also be joined by dentists Philip Broughton, 41 and Alastair Macdonald, 44.

They have already begun training for the event, some of them are experienced riders others just cycle occasionally so they are now all in intense training to ensure they can complete the challenge.

Completing the cycle ride will be no easy task, the canal is the longest canal in Northern England, and it passes through 91 locks with a summit level of 487 feet. The canal was finished in 1816 and passes through Shipley, Skipton, Burnley, Blackburn and Wigan on its way from Leeds to Liverpool.

The cyclists will be raising money for the Mouth Cancer Foundation. John Maloney, Sales Director at Optident said: "We have recently started to sell a product called Velscope for oral cancer screening. Through our work and after gathering statistics about mouth cancer in the UK we were very surprised to find that the statistics have not changed considerably for nearly four decades.

"The Mouth Cancer Foundation has worked very hard but there is still only growing awareness of this disease. Several people at work have also been directly affected by cancer so we really wanted to raise money for a good cause".

If anyone would like to sponsor the team's effort, they should go to the internet web site (www.justgiving.com/optidentandfriends).