TWO top surgeons are driving thousands of miles to raise money for transplant research.

Hany Riad and Titus Augustine, both based at Manchester Royal Infrmary, began the 3700-mile Plymouth to Banjul Rally - also known as the Banger Rally - yesterday.

Their 21-day journey will take them through France, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal, before reaching the finish line in the Gambia.

It will include a gruelling five-day drive through desert.

The pair aim to raise £7,500, which will be split between MRI's transplant charitable fund and education projects in Gambia.

Father-of-two Hany, 58, said: "Titus found out about the rally in a magazine a year ago and he asked if I wanted to join him.

"As it came nearer I did wonder whether I'd made the right decision. It is more daunting as it becomes more real. It's going to be hard work.

"I think we will have to take it as it comes. It's not a race so I think we will have to be fairly sensible and drive as safely as possible. We'll not have to push the car because it's fairly old."

The Plymouth to Banjul Rally began five years ago, as an ironic tribute to the Paris to Dakar Rally.

Instead of the high performance cars used in the Paris race, the Banjul rally challenges smaller teams to make the journey on very limited budgets.

Many of the cars will not be up to the journey. But those that reach the finishing line will be auctioned for charity.

Hany believes the most testing section of the rally will be the five-days and nights they will spend crossing the Western Sahara.

The pair will have to travel in a convoy of five or six cars so they will not be abandoned if they break down and or get stuck in drifting sands.

"We have to be prepared for the car to get stuck in the soft sand and to dig it out with sand ladders and shovels," said Hany.

Hany and Titus have been given a second-hand 4x4 Toyota for the rally.

And they boosted their fundraising efforts by getting friends colleagues and patients to sign the car in return for a £5 donation.