Troops in Afghanistan showed their support for Comic Relief last week by carrying out a gruelling challenge to raise money for the cause.

RAF personnel pulled a Chinook helicopter across the ground in a race between three teams from the 1310 Flight regiment.

The vehicle weighs 16 tonnes and each group had to battle against time when dragging it 70 metres along a taxiway at Camp Bastion in Helmand.

A team of engineers won the contest and completed the challenge in 35 seconds, while second place was taken by a group who had just finished a 12-hour shift when they attempted the feat and finished it within 48 seconds.

Engineering Officer Flight Lieutenant Alexys Colyer said the staff recently moved to a new location after reaching the mid-point of their tour.

"We knew Red Nose Day was coming up as well and we wanted to commemorate all these things by doing something a bit different – this seemed like a good idea," he added.

This year's Comic Relief efforts have already raised a record-breaking amount of more than £74 million.

Posted by Simon Williams