A group of paramedics trained to deal with hazardous situations have set off on a 1,200mile bike ride to help raise money for Help for Heroes.

All three work for the London Ambulance Service in Cody Road, Canning Town where they are part of the Hazardous Area Response Team. As part of their fundraising effort, they will be cycling to all 15 of these stations dotted all over the UK.

The team comprises Alex Batty, 34, and colleagues Joe Collins and Stephen Macciochi (Chocky) cycling and Ian Sibthorpe as their support driver.

They set off from their base in Canning Town and will be heading to Cambridgeshire, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester before heading to Birmingham, Exeter, the south coast and back to London on June 5.

Leading the cyclists is Alex Batty, who is a former member of the RAF Regiment. He said they decided to raise money for Help for Hereos as many of them have connections with the armed forces.

Although they have already managed to raise �2,000 he says they don’t have a target; they just want to raise as much as they can. They have set up a Charity page http://www.bmycharity.com/HARTtoHART

They also have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/LAS-HART-to-HART-for-Help-for-Heroes/ with the details of their journey, what they’ve been doing to train together with photos.

Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) are specially recruited and trained personnel who provide the ambulance response to major incidents involving hazardous materials, or which present hazardous environments, that have occurred as a result of an accident or have been caused deliberately.

The charity Help for Heroes was launched in October 2007 to provide direct and practical support to those wounded, sick or injured in the line of duty since 9/11.