DIRECTORS and staff of Ginsters at Callington took on the might of a Brittany Ferry on Tuesday by rowing against it in a race back to Plymouth from Roscoff.

However, while the ferry was plunging up and down through the waves of a stormy Channel, the rowers were sweating it out on two rowing machines at their works gymnasium in a race against the clock! They set out at 2.05pm exactly when the ferry slipped its moorings.

The fundraiser for CHICKS (Country Holidays for Inner City Kids) which is the Ginsters adopted charity, saw staff rowing 187 kilometres in shifts of up to 15 minutes at a time, in a bid to complete the distance ahead of the ferry docking at Plymouth.

There were cheers all round when it was revealed that Ginsters, in a time of six hours 25 minutes, had beaten the Brittany Ferry by 15 minutes.

Spokesman Chris Schaffer said: 'We want to raise as much as we can for CHICKS as this year, for the first time, they are taking in children to give them a happy Christmas.'