Thong rangers have pulling power

5:13pm Tuesday 17th June 2008

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Men dressed only in thongs and trainers hauled an articulated truck around Didcot in aid of a local baby.

And, on the same day, the Thong Rangers, above, presented eight-year-old Katie Lloyd, right - who has cerebral palsy - with a new £840 mobility trike funded by money raised from a fun day in May.

Shoppers and residents lined the streets to cheer them on as they pulled the 56ft-long Asda lorry 2 miles around the town, raising more than £2,000 for seven-month-old Ryan Harbert of Abbott Road.

He was given 24 hours to live after his breach birth 11 weeks prematurely, and now needs specialist equipment to help him breathe and swallow.

Local MP Ed Vaizey and town mayor Tony Harbour turned out to support the team for the two-hour challenge, which began at the Marlborough Club.

Organiser Phil Middleton said: "It was a great day and it united the whole town as they came to support such a worthwhile event. We had a brilliant response from the cars behind the rolling road-block."