FRIENDS of a Leominster man who died from cancer last year have raised funds for the hospice which cared for him.

Employees from John Ruck Construction (JRC) raised £3,000 for St Michael's Hospice with a charity bike ride.

They were joined by three employees from RJ Barrington Ltd, where their former colleague worked for 20 years.

Phil Smith died last year aged 56 from lung cancer after being ill for six weeks.

His wife Barbara and their 15 year-old son Ainsley started the bike ride on Saturday, November 4, by letting off a balloon.

Barbara said: "They contacted me and said they would like to do something in memory of Phil and asked if I would mind if they did a charity bike ride.

"Phil Williams, who works for JRC and was a good friend of Phil, organised the event."

The 15-mile journey started at JRC in Leominster before passing through Stoke Prior, where they stopped at a golf club to collect money.

They will be collecting further funds over the next few weeks and hope to present the cheque to the hospice in JRC's helicopter.

Barbara and Phil were married for 18 years and Phil has another son, Matthew, 31, from a previous marriage.