Participants in this year’s Bushey quarter marathon raised £7,000 for charity, organisers have revealed.

This week, members of David Lloyd Pacers running club, which arranged the event, revealed that the record breaking sum had been collected for charity Help for Heroes.

The race, held in July, attracted a huge number of entries, with 700 runners aged from three years to 72 years competing for 60 different trophies.

Mark Fairclough, from Help for Heroes said, "The Pacers told me they hoped to raise as much as possible, but this has exceeded all our expectations and will make a real difference to the lives of injured soldiers and their families."

It is the first time the Bushey running group has organised the event alongside its main sponsor, The Spire Hospital in Bushey.

Jenny Campbell, from the Spire Hospital, said: "This was the race’s 26th year and thanks to a rare sunny day it was the best yet with a huge number of schoolchildren getting into the 2012 Olympic spirit early."