Staff at a Watford eatery have helped raise more than £500,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

The team from Ask Italian took part in the company’s summer triathlon at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games venue at Dorney Lake, Berkshire, competing against other restaurants from around the country.

General manager Jalal Sharifi thanked the Watford branch customers for sponsoring the staff.

He said: "The triathlon was exhausting but fun, and whilst we didn’t win, we did Watford proud.

"We’d like to thank all our generous family, friends and customers who helped us raise a significant amount of money for a very good cause."

Following the event Ask Italian raised £500,000 to help the children at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.

It is halfway towards the company’s goal to fundraise £1 million for the charity.

Donal MacIntyre was on-hand to help the athletes with their warm-up and fire the starting gun for the three events.

Events included a team spring triathlon, individual sprint triathlon and individual novice triathlon - with Chris Hollins handing out the prizes and joining in with the BBQ which rounded off the day.

Steve Holmes, Ask Italian’s managing director, said: "I have to congratulate all the participants, I know exactly how exhausting the hours of training were, never mind completing the event itself.

"But I’m delighted that thanks to everyone’s fantastic efforts, we’re now over halfway towards our goal of raising £1 million towards a new surgery centre at the hospital, which treats very sick children from across the UK."

For more charity news click here.