FAMILIES and friends enjoyed trips along a canal on a disabled-friendly barge.

The Rotary Club of Abingdon Vesper has completed its annual season of rides along the Kennet and Avon Canal, in a barge specifically designed to accommodate disabled people.

This year the fundraising club took 260 people in 28 groups, as young as three and as old as 80, along the picturesque route.

The club said: “This gives many local groups the opportunity to have a wonderful day out on a barge.

“Each year we hire a barge for four weeks to provide special days out for a range of people of all ages, for whom such an activity really makes a difference.”

It marked the 23rd time the club has offered the trips, which cruise from Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire to Woolhampton in Berkshire, before turning back again.

The route is covered in daily stages and spans a whole week, with groups choosing whichever stint suits them best.

Volunteers covered 112 shifts and gave more than 1,200 hours of their time during the trips, from June 10 until July 7.

Some helpers with disabilities, including those who attend Kingfisher School in Abingdon and Fitzwaryn School in Wantage, were given the chance to steer the barge and operate lock bridges.

The rotary club provided trained crew and covered the full cost of hiring the barge, mainly funded through its annual Dragon Boat Racing fundraiser.