STAVERTON was just one of 80 stops a Morris Minor made in an epic journey around Great Britain in support of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Morris Minor Owners Club, a 1963 Morris Minor four-door saloon weaved its way from John O'Groats to Land's End, stopping off at every MMOC branch over four weeks.

The iconic automobile, which completed 3,000 miles from September 2 to October 1, paid a visit to the club's West Wiltshire Branch at the Old Bear last Friday for a bit of a chinwag.

Organiser Bruce Kelsey said: "It was lovely stopping in Staverton, meeting some members and seeing their Morris Minors. It really is a beautiful car and wherever it goes it brings and smile and a wave and in Staverton it was no different.

"None of this would have been possible without members such as these lending their support and coming out to meet us, it just makes this wonderful experience that bit more special.

"People love the car to bits. Pretty much everyone has a story about this wonderful old kit which held up brilliantly the whole way around, just like a classic car like this should.

"It has been an absolute pleasure to be part of this and it has certainly been one of the best things we have ever done."

The club are raising funds for the charity as the Morris Minor and Marie Curie Cancer Care both formed in 1948 and over the years the club has done all they can to raise funds for the charity.

Mr Kelsey was one of 125 branch members that drove the car parts of the way in the marathon drive that was a huge logistical effort to organise.

"This is the biggest challenge we have ever done in terms of the scale of the event but everyone responded to it brilliantly," he added.

"Contacting all the branches and getting them on board took a lot of work but it came off spectacularly well.

"Now hopefully we can raise more than £20,000 for Marie Curie, which is a charity very close to our hearts."

Mr Kelsey among others will present a cheque of how much they raised to the charity at the NEC classic motor show in Birmingham this November.

Some of the other stops the Minor made was the British Motor Museum in Banbury, the Daytona Karting track in Milton Keynes and Cowley, in Oxford, the birthplace of the car.