Two Bradford friends, who raised £2,000 for charity in an eight-hour cycle ride, had their bikes burned out by heartless arsonists.

Paul Hughes and Liam Gill went for a relaxing stroll on the seafront after completing the cycling trek from Leeds to Blackpool.

But when they returned to the bikes, which they had secured to Mr Hughes’s car, they found would-be thieves had set fire to the locks.

Both bikes were virtually destroyed and severe damage was also caused to the car, amounting to a total cost of £2,500.

Mr Hughes, who is head chef at the restaurant of Bradford-based Kings Security Systems, and Mr Gill, a retail manager, raised more than £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in the ride.

The pair, both 27, have previously raised thousands of pounds for charity through events, after losing family members to cancer.

Mr Hughes said: “We were having fish and chips on the seafront before going home, and we heard fire engines and commented that something was going on. We got back to the car park and found our burned bikes on the ground and the back of the car had just melted. We couldn’t believe it.

“We were so proud with what what we had done and the money we had raised. To come back to the bikes in that state was gutting. We think either someone had tried to burn the locks off to steal the bikes, or they had started the fire for the hell of it.”

The pair had a number of other charity rides planned, and bike manufacturer Scott Sports has given them two £1,000 bikes, and Mr Hughes’s work colleagues donated money towards the repair of his car.

He said: “The support we have received since the attack has been overwhelming.”

An independent bike repair specialist has also offered to restore the damaged bikes free of charge. They will then go into a charity auction for Macmillan.

The friends’ next event is for Marie Curie and will take place in September on the date Paul’s brother, Kevin, 25, died, five years ago. It will involve cycling a 100-mile route from Leeds to Windermere.

Next year will see them complete their first coast-to-coast bike ride, totalling 200 miles.