A MOVIE featuring the lesser-known sport of extreme unicycling - which was made for the Kendal Mountain Film Festival - has become an unexpected Internet hit.

No Cycling follows Cumbrian father and son team Simon and Aaron Rolph as they race down Lakeland mountain tracks on unicycles, performing daredevil tricks and jumps as they make their high-speed descent.

The film (illustrated above) was made by Manchester-based company Chateau Productions for last year's Kendal Film Festival and, thanks to popular video- sharing website YouTube it has reached a massive new audience and has been watched by more than 460,000 people.

Mr Rolph junior, who is 18 and lives near Carlisle, said he had been taken by surprise at how popular the film had become.

"I didn't realise it had been put on YouTube but it is great that people have picked up on it," said Mr Rolph.

"I started juggling a long time ago and then I bought a unicycle. I am also into outdoor sports such as mountain biking so I thought it would be a good idea to combine the two. It was difficult to learn from the beginning but once you get into it is really good fun.

"We have been down mountains such as Helvellyn and Skiddaw and thankfully have had no major mishaps or broken bones as yet," he added.

Rob Hewson of Chateau Productions said the film had been "challenging but good fun" to shoot.

"It was our first ever film which we made as part of a BBC film school course and was specifically for the Extreme Film School part of the Kendal Mountain Festivals," said Mr Hewson.

"I think one of the reasons it has taken off is the unusual aspect of extreme unicycling. I don't think many people will have heard of it before and it tends to be the weird and wonderful sort of things that catch on, on YouTube."

Director of the Extreme Film School and leading adventure film maker Brian Hall said he was delighted No Cycling had become an overnight success.

"The success of YouTube provides a valuable medium for film makers to get their work to a wider audience and many other Extreme Film School shorts are on there and doing very well," said Mr Hall.

"It is also good for Kendal and the Lake District as one of the stipulations of the Extreme Film School is that films are shot within a 15-mile radius of Kendal."