NORTH Oxfordshire MP Tony Baldry took on one of his biggest challenges yet - to cycle 350 miles in just five days.

The member for Banbury, and his wife Pippa, joined hundreds of cyclists last month to raise £1.5m for the Help for Heroes campaign.

The fund is raising money for the Defence Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court, which helps wounded servicemen.

The pair had been training since Christmas - cycling from their Banbury home to Stratford-upon-Avon and even London, to build up stamina for the gruelling event.

Mr Baldry, 57, said: "Shortly after Christmas I was persuaded to take part in the sponsored bike ride. I don't think I appreciated at the time what it would entail, because 350 miles in five days is quite a challenge.

"I had to get into some fairly serious training and even joined a gym."

The couple, who raised about £15,000, were among more than 300 cyclists who toured France's historic battlefields, laying wreaths to remember those who fought and died in both world wars.

To cross the Channel for the final leg to London's Whitehall, the cyclists were carried by landing craft to Dover beach.

The symbolic arrival coincided with the 68th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation, in the Second World War.

Mr Baldry said: "I had never cycled 70 miles in a day before - and hopefully I will never cycle 70 miles again in my life.

"It was a great challenge. Genuinely tough on occasion, but it was excellent. I discovered parts of me I did not know I had!"

Seeing injured service people also taking part in the challenge was "humbling", Mr Baldry said.

He said his wife, 54, had been 'adopted' by the Royal Marines and sported Marine cycling shorts, emblazoned with the slogan 'It's all in the mind'.