Red Arrows and friends line up in formation

The Red Arrows caused a stir in Ashton Park yesterday.

But it wasn’t their famous flying display up in the air, as several pilots from their display team made a swift visit on Vespa scooters as they travelled from Lands End to John O’Groats on day 2 of their four day charity ride.

The Red Arrows narrowly missed the opening of opening of a new adiZone outdoor gym in the park but were half an hour late on arrival.

However, the charity team formed of pilots from the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows and four Fighter Pilots from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight are raising money throughout the 1000-mile journey.

By swapping their planes for a smaller, slower mode of transport the group will raise money for five different charities which include Help For Heroes and Whizz-Kidz.

No sooner had they arrived at Ashton Park, they rode off into the distance with a police escort, with only a handful of the public seeing and hearing the team ride past.

The idea of a charity fundraising ride came from Flight Lieutenant Mike Ling, who was in an unfortunate collision in his Red Arrows Hawk earlier this year whilst out on a training exercise.

For more information about their ride go to http://sites.google.com/site/redslejog/ for more news and ways to donate.