JANUARY is traditionally a month where people give up the excesses of the festive season but one group of workers from Thetford have taken it one step further.

JANUARY is traditionally a month where people give up the excesses of the festive season but one group of workers from Thetford have taken it one step further.

Staff at Thetford fire station have pledged to raise money for two separate charities by losing as much weight as possible in the next three months.

A total of 16 people are taking part in a bid to raise money for the Fire Fighters Association, a national charity which supports staff and their families, and Chapel Road School in Attleborough which caters for youngsters with special needs.

Station manager for Thetford and East Harling, Ray Harcourt, who weighed in at 18st, said the challenge was going well so far with everyone in high spirits.

“It started as a bit of a laugh but now we've got a bit of media interest we've realised we've got to do this,” he said.

“We always try to do some sort of charity thing and come up with different ideas and thought we'd have a go at this. We've got a range of sizes and some of us are quite large.

“It was a bit of a shock to find out how much we weigh but once we started to do it as a team it put a bit more onus on the fact we've got to do this.”

At the beginning of the month the group all weighed themselves and recorded a collective 232st 12lb. There will be a weigh in each month as staff turn away from those chocolate bars and crisps and shed the weight.

Mr Harcourt, 43, who aims to lose one-and-a-half stones, added: “At the moment it's going well and I've cut out all the rubbish. “We all plan to do a very gradual loss rather than these diets where you lose a huge amount over a month and then put it all on again.”

Anyone wanting to sponsor the team should call Thetford fire station on 01842 765156.