A driving instructor waded through yards of sticky mud all in the name of charity.

John Benson, who runs Braintree’s Benson School of Motoring, tackled the Maldon mud race at the weekend with his partner Sara Lang to raise more than £1,500 for the Maldon mud race charities and Cancer Research UK.

Dressed up in St George-themed fancy dress, the pair struggled across the banks of the River Blackwater in less than 20 minutes.

Mr Benson, 54, who also runs Benson Bar in Bradford Street, Bocking, said: “It wasn’t a bad experience but it was extremely hard.

“You are in there and you have to haul yourself out of the mud, it’s almost frightening. I saw one girl who was crying.

“I did a lot of cycling and running on the treadmill to get in shape but it was still extremely difficult."

See Thursday's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.