A Bicester grandmother who refused to let her wheelchair stop her taking part in a sponsored race raised more than £400 for charity.

June Offord, 63, of Graham Road, wheeled herself from Franklin's Yard car park, down Sheep Street, round Bicester's Market Square and back last Saturday.

Flanked by her three grandsons, Marcus and Jake Harvey, 10, and Lloyd Offord, three, and other family members, Mrs Offord turned many heads during the hour-and-a-half long journey.

And she made sure she was hard to miss, with a banner and balloons attached to her wheelchair.

Mrs Offord was inspired to enter the event when her daughter-in-law completed the Race For Life event in aid of Cancer Research UK last year.

But after a brain haemorrhage 10 years ago left her dependent on a wheelchair, Mrs Offord decided to adapt the sponsored run so she could still take part.

Mrs Offord, who has lived in Bicester all her life, collected £122 from shoppers during her journey, and a further £300 from sponsors in advance and she said the money was still flooding in.

She said: "It was the best day of my life. I have got a wonderful family and I'm very lucky. I'm thrilled to bits with how much I have raised.

"My daughter-in-law ran it last year and I said I would love to do it. Quite a few people stopped and my smallest grandchild said 'Grandma, you look like a princess'. We really enjoyed it. I would do it again, but I think this would be a hard act to follow."

Her husband Dick Offord, 69, said: "We're chuffed to bits. She really enjoyed herself and she feels like she has done something for somebody."

More than 9,000 women took part in the Race for Life, held at the University Parks, Oxford, earlier this month.

This was the 11th year the Race for Life has taken place in Oxford. Organisers hope that holding three races in the city will generate £540,000.

* Another Race for Life takes place in the grounds of the Heythrop Park Hotel, near Chipping Norton, on Sunday. Entries for the event have now closed.