THREE men in a boat have completed an epic journey up the River Thames in aid of research into motor neurone disease.

Cumnor man Stuart Bates, 41, was joined by friends Julian Tolputt, 32, and Lawrie Hall, 22, on a challenge to row a 26ft Victorian skiff 100 miles upstream from Richmond to Oxford in six days.

They hope to raise £10,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and have already collected £8,500.

Mr Bates’ brother, Spencer, 49, was diagnosed with the condition in 2009.

The team, called Three Dopes in a Boat, slept on the boat each night and sometimes rowed from 7am to 9pm.

Mr Bates, a window cleaner, said: “We are all covered in blisters on our hands and in places where you really would not want blisters, but it was absolutely worth it.”

He added: “Watching Spencer change from a fit, muscular, ‘life and soul of the party’ man in such a short space of time is almost unbearable.”

They were joined by broadcaster Natalie Pinkham, an MNDA ambassador, Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave and Prof Kevin Talbot, director of the Oxford Motor Neuron Disease Care and Research Centre.

Visit justgiving.com/threedopesinaboat to offer sponsorship to the team.