FORMER Great Britain rugby league captain David Watkinson is to join a team from Trustspan Timber Engineering, based on Murton Lane, York, in a charity coast-to-coast bike ride.

The group will be cycling 155 miles from Whitehaven in Cumbria to Saltburn this weekend in an effort to raise £5,000 for Bowel Cancer UK.

With some having close experiences with cancer in their families, it is a topic about which they feel strongly.

Mr Watkinson, from York, who starred in Wembley cup finals for Hull Kingston Rovers, is a Trustspan customer and took up their invitation to join the bike ride. He began cycling as a way of keeping fit, after many years of playing rugby left him unable to run long distances.

Former rugby league player for York City Knights Craig Forsyth, who is also participating, said: “TTE became aware that I cycle very regularly, along with the fact I now race under the York Cycleworks banner.”

York Cycleworks, in Lawrence Street, York, is sponsoring the ride, providing inner tubes, sports drinks and energy bars throughout.