A trainee solicitor from north Shropshire has helped raise more than £600,000 for charity by cycling 400 kilometres across Vietnam and Cambodia.

Kathryn Dwyer, of Norton in Hales, near Market Drayton, was among 80 women from across the country to take part in the Women for Women Cycle Ride, after signing up for the five-day challenge for the charity.

Women for Women funds research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting mothers and their babies.

The charity is headed by medical scientist Lord Robert Winston and supported by TV presenter Fern Britton, who completed a cycle challenge in China last year.

Mrs Dwyer, 48, said: “It was a fantastic experience, even though it was very hot and humid in Vietnam and Cambodia. The challenge was very well-organised, with plenty of water stops along the way and places where you could get a snack.

“The ride was broken down into chunks to keep everyone together so that no-one got too far ahead or too far behind.

“We travelled through some quite rural areas where we got to see life in both countries really closely.”

Mrs Dwyer, who works at a solicitor’s firm in Crewe, prepared for the challenge by going on a cycling holiday in the south of France during the summer.

“The people we met throughout Vietnam and Cambodia were absolutely lovely and really welcoming,” Mrs Dwyer said.

“We were quite a spectacle because all the children came out by the roadside to wave and say hello to us which really kept us going.

“It was particularly touching that they were so generous in spirit, despite the fact that they don’t have an easy time of it.”

Mrs Dwyer and the other cyclists were congratulated at the end of the challenge by Lord Winston, who flew to Cambodia to announce the total amount raised.

“We met some really lovely people and I’m still on a high because the whole experience was so incredible,” Mrs Dwyer said.

“The total raised by everybody was £600,000 which is an awful lot of money.”