THREE Army veterans on an epic mission to raise £22,000 to help soldiers adjust to life in 'civvy street' have brought their campaign to County Durham.

Veterans Rob Dennison, Andy Price and Gav Corlos had only met on social media before deciding to cycle more than 1,000 miles across the country in a challenge called Around the Country in 80 Coffees.

Former Royal Logistics Core driver and coffee shop owner Mr Dennison and his partner, Janine Simms, came up with the idea after seeing an increase in the amount of veterans committing suicide.

And having no major cycling experience, Mr Dennison decided to set up the challenge just five weeks ago, in a bid to bring the issue to the fore.

Relying mainly on the generosity of strangers, the trio started their challenge in Edinburgh on Monday and have been camping and receiving donations along their route.

They arrived in Bishop Auckland on Tuesday night where they were shown "a bit of Northern hospitality" by residents Margaret and Colin Beamson and their son and fellow veteran, John Beamson.

Mrs Beamson said she thoroughly enjoyed hosting the veterans who camped in the couple's back garden for the night and were given a full dinner and breakfast.

And on Wednesday morning they continued on to Newton Aycliffe where they enjoyed bacon sandwiches at veterans' charity Sporting Force.

Founded by veteran Tommy Lowther in 2015, the charity helps ex-service personnel get back into employment in the professional sports industry.

Mr Lowther said it was an "honour" to help the veterans.

Mr Dennison, 36, said: "The idea is to share coffee with everybody, everywhere and we work on donations so if we don't get given anything we rough it. It shows that there's always highs and lows on every journey and there's an emotional journey for every soldier."

The trio will be covering 22 towns and cities in total including Ripon, Harrogate and London. They hope to ride an average of 75 miles a day and finish in Lincoln on July 15. Mr Dennison said the challenge was "tough" but all three men were in good spirits and wanted to thank everyone from sponsors to residents for their support.

The money raised will be split between the three charities: Who Dares Cares, the Tommy Atkins Centre and the Weymouth Veterans Hub.

To donate visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/around-the-country-in-80-coffees