A BELLINGHAM man has raised more than £1,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) by competing in a Scottish rally.

Alan Bland (68) was accompanied by his co-driver Alistair Murray, also from Bellingham, at the Mull Targa Rally on the Isle of Mull last month.

The Targa rally is restricted to road cars and road tyres and is formed of special challenges, including tight and twisting routes, and regularity checks, which test the driver’s ability to maintain an average speed.

Alan drove his Skoda Felicia 2000 model 280 miles to the Isle of Mull and competed in the rally, which was run on rough Forestry Commision roads, before driving it home again. He competed at this particular rally for the first time last year, raising more than £700 for GNAAS.