A cyclist has ridden nearly 240 miles from his home in Macclesfield to Edinburgh to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Ollie Smyth, 17, who is a member of the Macclesfield Wheelers cycling club, made the epic journey in one go leaving last Friday at 11pm and arriving in Edinburgh the following evening at 6pm.

He told Nub News: "It was quite tough to be honest with you. There were times when I was thinking, 'am I going to be able to do this?', but it was quite enjoyable as well.

"Only about an hour in, the heavens opened and it was torrential rain for about three hours, so I was cold and wet. After that it was quite good actually because I could get warm again."

Ollie's route took him from his Tytherington home, through Greater Manchester, Lancashire, the Lake District and up to the Scottish border near Carlisle and on up to Edinburgh.

"When I was going through the Lake District there were some massive climbs, like the Kirkstone Pass, which were really tough to get over," Ollie said.

Fellow Macclesfield Wheeler club members were on hand to provide him with support and advice in the run-up to Ollie's challenge.

Asked how it felt to reach his final destination in Edinburgh after around 19 hours of cycling, Ollie explained: "It was a good feeling, but at that point I was actually so tired it hadn't really set in that I'd made it.

"Once I had some food in me and I was warm, I was really happy actually; quite proud almost."

Ollie was raising funds for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society to honour his late grandfather who died with the illness, aged 38.

He said: "I never got the chance to meet my grandad because he died as a result of MS, primary progressive MS in particular. My mum was only 13-years-old when he died.

"I wanted to do something to support the MS Society and in particular I recognised from the stories my mum had told me how difficult it was when her dad had MS. A lot of people need support when going through it as well as their families, so it's a condition that's quite close to me," Ollie explained.

He added: "I've also received a lot of messages of support before and after the challenge. I've been able to hear stories from people who have relatives who suffer from MS.

"There was one story in particular from my old PE teacher who had seen my Just Giving page and he told me the story about how he was affected by MS. When things were getting tough during my ride and I thought about giving up, it was just something I came back to and I thought, 'this is why I'm doing it and this money is going to help people'."

The initial goal was to raise £1,250, but Ollie smashed through that with the current total at more than double that amount.

"I honestly never thought I'd get over £1,000, so the response has been really great," he said.

Ollie added: "I would like to thank everyone who has donated. Especially the people who have donated anonymously who I can't thank personally."

If you would like to donate to Ollie's MS Society fundraiser, you can do so on his Just Giving page.