A NEWPORT couple have arrived home after riding across six transporter bridges for charity.

Maureen Hendon and her partner Robert Reese travelled 2,600 miles across Europe on his BMW bike to raise money for Kidney Wales Foundation.

The charity is close to Ms Hendon's heart after she was diagnosed with kidney failure 17 years ago and has undergone four life-saving kidney transplants in that time with her last being in October 2006.

The couple set off from Newport's own Transporter Bridge on April 4 but were unfortunately unable to ride across it because of an electrical fault.

They then made their way across transporter bridges in Warrington and Middlesbrough before catching the ferry to Amsterdam and travelling to Germany to ride across the bridge in Rendsburg and visiting the bridge in Osten.

They then rode across France's Rochefort bridge before making their final stop in Bilbao, Spain.

The couple, who returned home on April 15 after an 11 day trip, raised just over £1,800 from the trip and other fundraising events.

This included donations from the Friends of the Newport Transporter Bridge and a kidney cancer patient from Germany.

They are now hoping to top this up with money from a fundraising quiz and car boot sale.

Ms Hendon, 49, from Malpas, said the challenge past all her expectations.

She said: "It was such a good experience because all of the people we met were very welcoming. We also found out a lot about the history of transporter bridges."

To donate, see www.justgiving.com/r-mbiketour