AFTER a 132-mile walk to raise awareness of mental health issues in the emergency services, four ambulance workers arrived back in Didcot.

Hundreds of residents greeted Rob Gilley, Steve Dobson, Teresa Howard-Birt and Kyla Haythorn as they wearily – but triumphantly – strode into Edmonds Park after six days of almost non-stop walking.

The South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) workers have been raising funds and awareness for Samaritans and Oxfordshire Mind's 'blue light champion scheme', which provides mental health support for emergency services staff and volunteers.

Walking through each county SCAS operates in –Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire – the group left Gosport on Monday, August 21, and reached Didcot on Saturday.

Organiser Mr Gilley, a paramedic for 17 years, said: "To walk all the way here from the coast is amazing and it's good to be back home.

"I've seen a lot of things in my time as a paramedic, as we all have.

"It takes its toll.

"It's important that people know that there is support all around them and they can get help when they need it."

Fellow paramedic Ms Haythorn said: "I've got blisters on top of blisters.

"If we hadn't done it as a team, I don't think any of us would have completed it.

"I have been signed off work with post traumatic stress in the past.

"I always seem to end up at the really bad jobs.

"I want others who may be experiencing similar things to know that there are people out there who can help."

Joining the foursome to walk the final 12 miles of their journey were dozens of friends and supporters.

Among them was Mandy Evans, whose son Aled was a paramedic and killed himself in December 2015.

She said: "They see things you and I have never seen – the stuff of nightmares – and are just expected to carry on.

"They are always there for us but sometimes we need to be there for them."

The walk ended at a emergency services-themed fun day where families rode in police cars and fire engines and saw a bomb-disposal robot in action.