Friends and family of a man who lost his life to a brain condition have raised more than £14,000 after a 221-mile bike ride.

Andy French, who was born in Dartford, died of Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) last July.

CJD is a rare condition that affects the brain rapidly, causing brain damage.

His family and friends have been fundraising ever since to raise awareness of what CJD is and its devastating effects.

Andy’s wife Nicola French and her brother pub landlord Danny Goldsbrough, who also was friends with Andy’s organised the bike ride from Dartford to Lincoln, which started on Thursday and finished last Saturday.

Speaking after the bike ride, Danny said: “It all went amazingly well. Saturday was a bit hairy with torrential rain. There was some fantastic support along the way.

“We raised £2,000 in the pub alone from a sponsor sheets.”

Nicola said: “CJD is a rare degenerative brain disorder and is always fatal. I have heard it described as dementia on speed.

“Due to its rarity, it is extremely hard to get a correct diagnosis.

“There is no cure yet but they have been working on a drug called PRN100 for six years. However, there’s a long way and it faces many challenges before it could be even used for human trials.

“As a family, we raised £5,000 for St Andrew’s Hospice in Grimsby, as a thank you for taking care of Andy in his final weeks.

“We wanted to focus on raising money for something that could hopefully make a difference to the next unsuspecting victims of this most horrid disease.

“We found the Cure CJD campaign and believe this to be the right place for our fundraising, given it’s potential to not cure the disease but stop it’s progression towards, ultimately, death.”

The idea for the bike ride came from the fact Andy was well known in Dartford, before moving to Lincoln where he passed away. Money from the bike ride and multiple other charity events will help fund research.