AND they’re off as 50 teams yesterday started a journey from Cornbury Park to Witney’s twin town of Le Touquet in France.

The Twin Town Challenge sees cars worth £500 or less travel the 1,000 miles.

Drivers will take in the famous race circuits of Brands Hatch, Le Mans and Croix en Ternois to do challenges and gain points on a leaderboard. Organiser Brendon Cross said: “It was a fantastic send-off, with a really, really good atmosphere. There were lots of people waving us off, and loads of school children.”

Charlbury Primary School pupil Boru Blayney, eight, pictured front third from right, from Spelsbury, said: “I liked all the cars because of the wheels.

“I normally like round stuff. The people inside them were all dressed up too which was fun. ”

The challenge, which will last all weekend, is set to raise £100,000 for charity SpecialEffect.

Based in Charlbury it helps people with disabilities enjoy video games.

Mr Cross, who is a vice president at the charity, said: “When we get back we’ll be putting the cars into a special auction. They all cost under £500 initially, but they’ve had so much work on them that they will hopefully sell for a lot more.”

There will be a welcome home party as the teams return on Monday at the Witney Lakes Resort at 4pm.

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