It's ten years ago this week since an Epping man embarked on a charity challenge across Europe in a car that had seen much better days.

A fearless fundraiser has rattled his way across 1,600 miles of Europe's most challenging terrain in a clapped out £150 banger.

Nick Pedley, of Crows Road, Epping, spent four days in a 17-year-old Peugeot 306 racing from Calais to Croatia in the name of St Clare Hospice.

Mr Pedley was persuaded to sign up to the Ramshackle Rally - a sponsored driving challenge that sees 30 teams race in creatively-decorated bargain cars - by friend and teammate Andrew Smith, from High Wycombe.

"We did get some strange looks, but a lot of people were very supportive and gave us a lot of euros and pounds," said the 34-year-old, who works at the London Eye.

The duo's odyssey took them from France, via Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy and Slovenia, to the Croatian city of Split.

The pair journeyed through the Alps and up the 9,000ft Stelvio Pass in Italy. Mr Pedley said the battered Peugeot held up valiantly - but admitted to a couple of hairy moments.

"The engine was sound, but halfway across the Alps we realised the brakes weren't that good," he said.

The pair also discovered the vehicle's windows no longer opened - making the 10-hour daily journeys even more challenging.

"We had to be quite patient and put up with each other, but we had a good laugh," said Mr Pedley.

"The Stelvio Pass had something like 62 hairpin bends. We got nearly to the top then we got stopped by firemen - there'd been an avalanche, so we had to go right back down again."

Organisers presented drivers with a string of challenges for which they could earn points, from posing for photos with police officers to picking up wild animals as passengers.

"One team found a duck, another found a frog and I think another one managed to persuade a friendly farmer to lend a sheep," he said.

"But we chickened out of that one."

The friends finished in 12th place, raising £400 for the children's hospice. Mr Pedley is now eyeing up his next fundraising challenge - but sadly the Peugeot has seen its last.

"The car is in a scrap yard in Croatia - it's had it's day really," he added.