An aid convoy driver from Keighley recently returned from an arduous mission to deliver ambulances to Pakistan.

Abdul Ghafoor, 63, took part in the two-week drive from Nottingham to Islamabad to help transport 30 of the badly-needed vehicles on behalf of the charity Muslim Hands.

He and his colleagues were given armed escorts to take them through some of the more dangerous parts of Pakistan.

The Shann Park resident, a retired lorry driver, said the trip was physically exhausting but ultimately rewarding, and gave him a chance to see some spectacular landscape on the way.

“Luckily, no one had an accident – that was the main thing,” he said. “We got there OK, everyone got home safely, and we transported all the ambulances.

“We had some vehicle breakdowns, and some of the drivers hadn’t driven abroad before. A few times we didn’t stop driving till about three in the morning because we’d been delayed and needed to make up the distance.”

Most of the ambulances were dropped off in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, but five were taken to Azad Kashmir, where Mr Ghafoor visited some of his relatives.

He has previously driven vehicles on aid convoys to the Gaza Strip and the Turkish/Syrian border.