Members of a rugby club have raised more than £15,000 by taking part in a three-day cycle to Paris.

A total of 50 members of Enfield Ignatians RFC got on their bikes at the club's base in Donkey Lane and pedalled through the summer heat to the French capital.

Fiona Essilfie-Quaye, one of the project leaders for the event, was delighted with the support and hopes that the Tour de Dodo can become a regular fixture in the club’s calendar.

She said: "We wanted to help a local cause and give back to the community. Mark Shuttlewood [playing member], for example, put forward his employer, Russet House School for Children with Autism, and I know that they were delighted that we chose them.

"Another club member chose Cancer Research, as they had helped really helped him and following the painful loss of his mother to cancer.

"I think club members were pleased to be cycling in the honour of relatives, and this was combined with a real understanding of how the money would be spent."

The route, which was almost 500 kilometres, also requited four support cars along the way and Mrs Essilfie-Quaye paid homage to their work.

She added: "Training was a huge thing. The guys would train regularly on Sunday, and when the event got closer, they ramped this up to two to three training sessions a week.”