The sun shone for a charity 4x4 event as motoring enthusiasts picked their way through an off-road course.

The Abingdon 4x4 Festival, held at Dalton Barracks, welcomed about 1,000 people to the site over the course of the weekend, as organisers tried to beat last year's "best-ever" fundraising total.

Organiser Nick Jennings said: "It has been a very good success and should be on a par with last year in terms of final totals.

"We were a bit concerned about the credit crunch, but with the great weather this weekend the numbers on site look to have equalled last year's."

Last year, the event raised £16,000. Once this year's cash is totalled up, it will be split equally between the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance and Fox FM's Help an Oxfordshire Child, with 25 per cent going to Abingdon Rotary Club.

Mr Jennings said: "We had between 200 and 300 vehicles on site each day which tackled our off-road course.

"It was designed to be driven without incurring damage to any road-trim off roader, but there were more challenging options around the course for people with more modified vehicles."

Other attractions included a beer tent, bouncy castle, rock climbing and battery-powered mini Land Rovers for children to emulate their off-roading parents.

Dan Elias, a mechanic with Milton-based Frogs Island 4x4, brought his two Land Rover Defender 90s to the show.

He said: "It's a really family friendly atmosphere and it's obviously all for a good cause.

"This is the fourth year I've been coming here and it has definitely got bigger and better each time. There's something for all the family and the weather over the weekend really helped."

Mr Jennings said: "This was the event's eighth year and its sixth as a two-day event.

"It was our best-ever event last year, but hopefully we can beat that total when all the money is totted up."