A pair of Keighley residents are nursing their blisters following a charity walk along the length of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal towpath.

Beverly Bottomley and Tony Bullock completed the 127-mile route in six days to support the north-west branch of Staffordshire Bull Terrier Rescue.

They were joined for part of the route by 10-year-old Nikita Hollis.

Mrs Bottomley, 47, who owns Cavendish Court Tearooms, decided to carry out the walk after a staffie was abandoned outside her cafe.

‘Sammie’ now has a loving new home, but Mrs Bottomley explained she wanted to do something to help what she said was the second most abused and abandoned breed of dog in Britain.

Speaking the day after completing the trek, she said: “The second and third days were the hardest because you go for it on the first day when you’re really up for it and on the second day your body packs up.

“Wigan Locks was no joke because that was all uphill. Some of the footpaths were very bad – just tiny narrow tracks with hardly anywhere to put your feet.”

She estimates she has had more than £1,000 worth of sponsorship pledged, and thanked everyone who has contributed.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier Rescue north-west spokesman Barbara Green, who is based in Farnworth near Bolton, praised the Keighley walkers’ efforts.

“I think it’s absolutely marvellous – to think someone else is fighting our corner is heart-warming,” she said.