Black cab trio claim longest taxi journey world record

Three friends claim to have set a world record for completing the longest ever journey by taxi.

They are set to become the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a taxi, driving more than 43,000 miles in their 20-year-old black cab Hannah.

Paul Archer, 23, from Gloucestershire, Johno Ellison, 27, from Leeds, and Leigh Purnell, 23, from Staffordshire, are due to arrive in Folkestone later.

They will then drive the last 70 miles of their trip to Covent Garden, London.

When they drive through the Eurotunnel on to British soil on Friday morning, the university friends will have driven more than 43,000 miles (69,000km) across four continents and 50 countries since their trip began in February last year.

They are also believed to have set a record for the world's highest taxi journey, having reached Mount Everest's base camp in the cab.

During their odyssey, they have been arrested in Moscow and detained by the Iranian Secret Police. Mr Archer was deported from Iran as a suspected spy.

They became stuck on the border of Moldova with the wrong visas but eventually managed to enter the country because one of their friends' mothers knew the president.

When they arrive in the UK, they claim the taxi fare they would have racked up will have totalled nearly £80,000.

The friends have raised £20,000 for the British Red Cross by undertaking the trip, which was originally intended as a London to Sydney expedition.

Their homecoming reception will be held later in Covent Garden, where they started their journey almost 15 months ago.