A father of three has raised nearly £5,000 for a hospice charity after scaling ten of England’s highest mountains in less than half a day.

Luke Silverton, 43, from Kings Close in Chipperfield, joined former Berkhamsted School pal Paul Griffiths, 42, and seven other of Paul’s former school and university friends, to complete the 26km Lake District 10 Peaks Challenge.

The event was in memory of Mr Griffith’s father, Peter, who lost a very sudden and short battle with cancer last August, aged 65.

Mr Griffiths wanted to do something fitting to remember him and support the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, which cared for his dad during the last week of his life.

Mr Silverton, an IT Project Manager who has completed marathons, half marathons, triathlons and half iron man challenges in the past, said: “I have such fond memories of Paul’s dad. The Lakes were his favourite place so the minute Paul asked me to do it I said yes.

“One of the reasons we all signed up was because we thought if Paul can do it, we certainly can.

“But everyone was surprised at how hard it was.

“After the first hill I thought crikey, this is going to be a real challenge – am I going to be able to finish it?

“But being blokes together, no one wanted to be last up a hill. The competitive edge kicked in and we did it, despite someone’s boots falling apart after eight hours.

“The whole experience was fantastic. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to do it, really test myself and achieve something great for a wonderful cause in memory of such a great guy.”

Scaling the equivalent of more than 7,000 feet over rocky crags, across open moorland and through high-fell bogs on Saturday, June 27, the men conquered Red Pike, High Stile, High Crag, Haystacks, Green Gable, Scafell Pike, Great End, Esk Pike and Bowfell in 11 hours, 15 minutes.

Their anticipated time was 12 to 14 hours.

Mr Griffiths added: “I want to thank each and every one of my friends for putting up with me complaining all the way round.

“They only said yes because they didn’t think I’d actually do it, but I hope it’ll teach them to take me at my word in the future.”

To sponsor Mr Silverton and his friends, visit their Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/Paul-Griffiths-10-Peak-Challenge/.