People with unwanted bikes, tools and spare parts donated them to help change the lives of people living in Africa.

Action Bikes teamed up with charity Bikes for Africa Re~Cycle, which sends donated bikes to Africa to be refurbished and distributed to people in rural areas.

The bike shop, which has branches in Whitton, Sheen and Wimbledon, packed its fourth container full of 439 bikes at Twickenham Rugby Club, in South Road, Hampton, on Tuesday, January 14.

The bikes were sent to Ghana, where they will be given to people in need, many of whom have to walk long distances to access education, health care, employment or water so a humble bicycle can be a real lifesaver.

Tony Yerby of Action Bikes thanked everyone for their donations, including Paul Dickson who dropped off his son’s bike that had been sitting in the garage for three years since he moved to Australia.

He said: “This is an ongoing project for us. Any readers who would like to donate an unused bike can simply bring it along to one of our stores.

“Big thanks to Action Bikes customers, who have so far donated 2,145 bikes.”

For more information, visit actionbikes.co.uk/bikes-for-africa.html.