TWO close friends have completed an ambitious climb of Mount Snowdown while dressed as a donkey.

Asbestos consultant Tom Vickers, 31, and analyst Rikki King, 29, conquered the 3,560 ft peak in roughly seven hours during a trek on Sunday.

The duo, who are both from Braintree, completed the climb in the two-man suit in aid of Stephen Williams, 53, who needs specialist medical treatment costing £40,000 to help slow the spread of terminal cancer.

Mr Vickers, who acted as the rear end of the donkey, said: "It took us seven hours in the end which was an hour longer than we were expecting.

"We had planned our route and knew there were milestones along the way. That helped to keep us motivated and then when we got near the end, we were cheered on by other climbers.

"We had a good run up there considering we couldn't really see a lot in the suit. I enjoyed it a lot to be honest and found it quite rewarding even though it was quite hard work.

"I was at the back so I was bent over at a 90 degree angle for a lot of it and had to rely on following Rikki's feet.

"We had a lot of people stop us along the way to ask what we were doing. Everyone seemed to think it was for a stag-do or some kind of punishment. But we were able to tell them it was for a good cause and get some to donate."

After conquering the mountain, the two friends were able to remove the donkey suit and complete their descent in four hours.

The duo have already raised an estimated £3,000 alone from their 'Snowdonkia' challenge and hope to raise more in the coming weeks.

The money will then be added to the £14,500 that has already been raised for Mr Stephens, who lives in Shalford.

Mr Vickers says he and Mr King will continue to fundraise and the friends have even refused to rule out completing another challenge similar to Snowdonkia.

Mr Vickers added: "I think we would like to do something like it again.

"It would obviously need to be something a bit different but I liked the challenge and had a lot of fun so we'll wait and see."

To make a donation, search Snowdonkia on Facebook.