Four tradesmen from Honiton have raised more than £3,000 for Cancer Research UK after climbing Africa’s highest mountain.

Plasterer Zak Mortimer-Wale, heating engineer Jan Wale, carpenter Aaren Carpenter and bathroom fitter James Sturley took on the daring ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro earlier this year, and recently added up their donations to hand over to the national charity.

The four friends had to tackle a number of adversities, including altitude sickness and severe cold.

Jan said: “During the trek, you are just climbing, eating, sleeping, talking and enjoying the scenery.

“When you set off, you can see the mountain looming up out of nowhere – it’s daunting!

“The conditions changed massively as we climbed, and it can be quite hard to sleep at altitude. The temperature outside was -17C at the top and the altitude really hurts your head.

“When I crawled out of my tent in the morning it felt like someone had been hitting my head with a cricket bat all night.”

The four friends made it to the bottom of the mountain without injury.

Jan added: “We would like to thank everyone for the support we received from friends, family, customers and local businesses in helping us raise this money.”