A cycle shop manager helped keep a sponsored bike ride on track when he loaned riders a £3,000 bike.

A team of cyclists from Childbase Partnership were on the fourth day of a 14-day bike ride, which covered 767 miles and stopped at each of their 47 children’s nurseries, when disaster struck.

The team were hoping to cover 767 miles and stop at each of the partnership's 47 nurseries until rider Paul Haworth was knocked off his bike and his carbon fibre bike was crushed under an HGV.

He suffered cuts, bruises and a swollen wrist and had to be treated at the roadside, before spending the rest of the day in the team’s support car.

But determined to complete the ride he decided to chance his luck by contacting Hertfordshire bike supplier Giant, in Watling Street, Radlett.

Giant store manager Dave Gardiner offered to lend him a replacement £3,000 bike and had it delivered through a friend to the team’s next stop in Kent.

Mr Gardiner said: “Paul got himself into trouble and we tried to get him out of it. We know Paul as a customer and as he’s local to us - he had his bike serviced with us before the event.

“A friend of his came into the shop and said he was looking for a bike for Paul. I just decided that the best thing to do was to loan him a bike so he could complete the journey.”

Declaring himself well enough to continue, Paul Haworth jumped back in the saddle and continued with the fundraising effort in aid of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore.

He said: “The RNOH is a great cause and nothing was going to stop my support in raising such vital funds, not even an HGV. I cannot thank Dave enough for his kind and generous donation of a bike to help me continue the rest of the journey with the team.”