Garastang PCSO’s Peruvian taxi ride raises £3,000 for charity

A PCSO’s 2,000-mile journey across Peru has helped to raise £3,000 for a cancer charity.

PCSO Dave Edwards, of Garstang’s neighbourhood police team, has recently returned from South America where he made the mammoth trek on a mototaxi – a three-wheeled 125cc motorbike. His journey took him through the Amazon and over the Andes, taking around two-and-a-half-weeks to complete.

The 27-year-old, who joined Lancashire Constabulary in 2009, carried out the challenge in order to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care in memory of a friend’s father.

“It was a fantastic trip," says Dave, "and it was made even better by the fact that I knew I was raising money for such a good cause. The mototaxi was not the most comfortable method of transport and it broke down pretty much every day – I think I could probably fix a 125cc with my eyes closed now.

”The people we met along the way were amazing and the scenery, especially the mountain roads, was epic.”

Highlights from PCSO Edwards’ trip includes sleeping in a sheep shed in the Andes after breaking down in the middle of the night and an impromptu street party held in his honour after breaking down in the small town of Pucara. English and guitar lessons were given to the local youngsters while the mototaxi was fixed.

Dave drove along three-metre wide mountain tracks, while trying to avoid the 3,000 metre drop at the side of the road and was given a police escort into Cusco after officers stopped to help him change a wheel (having first laughed and called him crazy for making the trip on a mototaxi.)

• Anyone wishing to sponsor PCSO Edwards can do so by using the Just Giving link www.justgiving.com/planf or you can text PLAN99 plus the amount you wish to donate to 70070.