A sporty group of youngsters took a break from their studies to complete an exhausting 24-hour table tennis and badminton marathon last week.

The boys, from Harrow High School in Gayton Road, undertook the challenge to raise money for the Cancer Foundation.

They started in the school's recently opened £1.6æmillion sports hall at 4.30pm on Thursday and continued knocking the ball back and forth over the net until the same time on Friday.

Headteacher Ruth Dennison said: 'It was a very brave thing to attempt. The school likes to get involved in charity projects and this one was a lot of fun.'

Brave though it certainly was, it also showed a remarkable dedication to duty - the boys would have had the day off as the staff were having a training day.

Those taking part were: Rabeen Salehbak, Fawad Popal, Shahab Abbasi, Wajahath Ali, Yousif Mian, Emin Tatosian, Murtaza Ahmed, Rohullah Popal, Ruben Selvaradnam, Senthuran Ganeshan, Shankar Arulchevam, Morris Deluxon, Waran Sampasivam, Neelan Thisaveerasingam, Ramesh Theivendran, Dipesh Patel, Thanaugan and Reza Parpia.