Additional reporting by John Nurden

Almost 900 cyclists woke up at the crack of dawn to take part in the annual Chase the Sun coast-to-coast bicycle ride.

They left The Leas at Minster, on Sheppey, at around 4.30am on Saturday, June 22, and began their 205-mile cycle to the finish line in Western-Super-Mare - which they hoped to reach before sunset.

The dawn-to-dusk event was created by Olly Moore in 2008. It took him and three friends three attempts to succeed.

A record 859 cyclists attempted the southern course and raised money for Macmillan Cancer Support at the same time.

It took an hour to get all the riders underway.

They were dispatched in small groups, in an attempt to cause less congestion on the roads.

The route took them through Rochester, south London, Crystal Palace, Chertsey, Bramley, across the Vale of Pewsey, over the Mendip hills, through Devizes and across Cheddar Gorge before finally arriving on the seafront at Weston-Super-Mare.

Of those who started the cycle, 705 reached the finish line and 538 cyclists did so before sunset.

Last year 755 entered and 673 finished, 519 before sunset.

There were three other Chase The Sun rides taking place at the weekend.

Chase The Sun Ireland began in Belfast and finished in Enniscrone, Chase The Sun UK North began at Whitley Bay and finished in Ayr and Chase The Sun Italia began in Cesenatico and finished in Tirrenia.

On Sheppey, repair work on replacing cables on the Kingsferry lift bridge by Network Rail was put on hold to allow the cyclists to get off the Island.

All competitors had to register at the temporary event headquarters at the Abbey Hotel on The Broadway.

By dawn, its car park was awash with cyclists and their support vehicles.