New Year's Day tractor convoy raises money for charity

More than 120 tractors turned out for a New Year's Day drive to raise money for an air ambulance trust and a mental health charity supporting farmers.

Organised by the Somerset Tractor Runners, the vehicles paraded through Kingsbury Episcopi, East Lambrook, Merriott, Long Sutton and Drayton.

Now in its sixth year, organisers said they were hoping to raise up to £10,000 for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and Somerset-based mental health charity Farmerados.

This year 122 tractors joined the run, and volunteers with buckets collected donations from members of the public along the route.

Organiser Zach Anderson told BBC Radio Somerset that the tradition started in 2020 when he and a few friends decided to go "for a bit of a drive around" to a couple of pubs in their tractors.

"You know what it's like at Christmas - you get a bit bored of your family so we went for a bit of a drive and a few more people asked to join and it's snowballed from there," he said.

Mr Anderson, himself a farmer, said since opening it up to the public, the event has grown in popularity each year.

Asked how the event deals with drivers frustrated by the delays, he said: "We are not doing it on purpose to go out and block people or annoy people. It's all with good intention.

"We try and keep disruption to a minimum and we can only apologise."

"If you can afford to wait five minutes for us, it helps a lot of people that need it," Mr Anderson said.

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