BIKERS from across Suffolk have joined forces to collect unwanted mobile phones, raising over £2,000 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.Members of the Suffolk Advanced Motorcyclists Club have been raising money for the ambulance for the last two years, and their latest bid saw them travel as far afield as Exeter and Derby to pick up over 400 phones from fellow bikers.

BIKERS from across Suffolk have joined forces to collect unwanted mobile phones, raising over £2,000 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Members of the Suffolk Advanced Motorcyclists Club have been raising money for the ambulance for the last two years, and their latest bid saw them travel as far afield as Exeter and Derby to pick up over 400 phones from fellow bikers.

Patsy Johnson, press officer for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, said: "Most of these phones would otherwise get thrown away, but we get £5 for each one.

"The air ambulance is funded totally through voluntary donations, so everything we get helps. £2,000 is enough to fund the ambulance for a day which, if you think about the fact that we have, on average, five calls a day, is potentially saving up to five lives. They've done a brilliant job."

The phones will be bought by a Norfolk company who will then dismantle them and re-use the components.

Keith Gilbert, chairman of the Suffolk Advanced Motorcyclists Club said the cause was one that was very close to their hearts: "Obviously, doing what we do, we realise the value of the air ambulance. It's been great to be able to support them in this way."

As well as the phones, the club also collected a further £160 for the cause by selling badges.

Anyone who has an unwanted phone and would like to donate it to the air ambulance should take it to the charity shop in Orwell Place, Ipswich.