A group of churchgoers and climbers came together to scale the height of Ben Nevis as part of a fundraising drive.

Members of Watford’s climbing community and those from Wellspring Church, based in the town centre, spent a gruelling five hours on the climbing wall at Watford Leisure Centre.

They attempted to collectively climb the height of Ben Nevis – the UK’s tallest mountain – which stands at 1,345 metres.

Their efforts were part of a fundraising campaign to collect funds for an extension to the church and community centre in Wellspring Road.

Ben Dear, ministry leader at Wellspring Church, said: “It was a great day for everyone involved and hopefully we’ve raised a good amount of money.

“We welcome thousands of people through our doors each year and we want to engage as many people as possible from the community.

“There were some high points and low points throughout the day but we were proud to ultimately hit the target with about a minute to spare.”

The extension to the centre will cost almost £2 million so the climb represents the start of a dedicated mission to build up the collection pot.

Ben explained how there will be a number of events and campaigns taking place in the future and he hopes to involve people from all over Watford in trying to reach the goal.

“We’ve been looking to do some creative projects for a while now and thanks to the team at Watford Leisure Centre, we were able to put everything in place,” he said.

“Hopefully there will be some people who take up climbing as a hobby now and it will inspire us when it comes to future fundraising events.”