TWO young men from Sevenoaks are taking their zany sense of humour to the limit to raise money for brain tumour research – wearing nothing but towels.

The pair plan to drive from their home town to Stockholm in Sweden, using a Volvo they are converting into a sauna.

Journalist Tom Sharrad, 23, of Coomber Avenue, and Chris Wilkinson, 24, of Hartslands Road, are due to set out on the 4,000-mile journey on August 27.

Mr Sharrad said: "We wanted to think of something a bit quirky and I had my old Volvo estate, so we thought we would take it back to Sweden clad in pine.

"Our target is to raise £5,000, so it needed to be something a bit different to get people interested."

The daring towel-clad duo are hoping local businesses will help them out with sponsorship and other support.

Money raised will go to the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, which is dedicated to brain tumour patients and their families.

Their challenge begins as part of the Czech Wrecks banger rally from Calais to Prague. From there they will head to Sweden, the spiritual home of their Volvo 240.

Depending on the reliability of the G-registration car, which has 186,000 miles on the clock, they plan to return home having crossed 12 countries in 14 days.

Mr Wilkinson, who works as a theatre technician at the Royal Opera House, has personal reasons for raising money for the brain tumour charity.

His mother, Sue, was diagnosed with a benign dermoid cyst seven years ago and made a full recovery following seven hours of major surgery.

Mr Sharrad also suffered from a brain tumour when he was 18 months old and made a full recovery following surgery.

If you would like to sponsor the pair, go to their website, www. sevenoakstostockholm.co.uk

To find out more about the brain tumour trust, go to www.sdbtt.co.uk

The route: @ England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Germany (again), Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany (once more), The Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK

Some of the highlights:

From Davos to the Stelvio Pass, which was voted the world's best driving road by Top Gear in 2007

The back roads from Prague to Jested, where the pair plan to spend a night in a mountain-top ex-Communist hotel

The autobahn, where they plan to take a sauna in their Volvo