A GROUP of three intrepid schoolgirls put their best feet forward to tackle a 40 mile hike from Bolton to Blackpool to raise money for charity.

Cherry Travers, Kathryn Antrobus and Katie Orrell, all aged 11, walked for more than 13 hours before they had to cut their walk short near Leyland when it became dark.

The trio, accompanied by Cherry's dad Les, set off from the Travers household in Deane just before 7am on Saturday.

They had planned to walk the 40 miles to Blackpool taking a direct route, but found it difficult as they could not walk along motorways.

Undeterred, the George Tomlinson and Ladybridge high school pupils used A-roads, which almost doubled the distance of their journey to almost 80 miles.

They walked through the day, stopping briefly to eat, and had almost reached Leyland when their efforts came to an end.