FIRE-fighting postmen from South Lakeland will be striving to stand the heat as they walk the Great Wall of China next summer to raise funds for fellow colleagues.

Windermere-based Doug Lishman and Shane Parkinson, who are both postmen and retained fire-fighters, hope to inject a £4,000 cash boost into the fire-fighter service benevolent fund by completing the challenge in June.

As part of a 90-strong team, they will set off on the eight-day adventure from Simati, trekking along the edge of a razor sharp cliff, scaling the side of mountains and descending steep valleys.

"It's the challenge of a lifetime and an excellent opportunity to go to China and raise money at the same time," said Shane, aged 25, who is appealing for support from local businesses and hotels.

"£4,000 is a lot of money to raise, and it's a daunting thought.

But we want to raise more than that for the cause, and won't relax once we've reached that initial target."

He explained that a percentage of the donations would cover part of the ground and air cover of the trip, which the pair had already put money towards.

As well as walking several miles a day, delivering post, and cycling to Windermere Fire Station for drills and fire calls, the pair weight-train, run and go climbing and are confident they are fit enough for the walk.

Doug, 29, who plans to complete the Great North Run dressed as a fire-fighter to collect more pennies and pounds, said they already had a number of projects up their sleeves, which promise to be highly entertaining.

Fellow fire-fighters will be doing a sponsored pub crawl for the cause, and fire-fighter Andrew Millray has put his G-reg Rover up for sale in aid of the cause.

Donation cheques should be made payable to Windermere Fire Service and sent to Windermere Fire Station, Ellerthwaite Road, Windermere.