FOUR young men are planning to drive an old ice cream van 11,000 miles from Teignmouth across Europe and Asia to the Far East, and back again.

The 23-year-olds are taking part in the pan-continental Mongol Rally, which passes through a dozen countries and some hostile terrain, to Ulaanbaatar, the ancient capital of Mongolia, near China.

They will face mountain ranges, deserts and other barren and inhospitable lands.

'It sounds madcap, but we wanted to do it in an eye-catching vehicle. As we all come from Devon, which produces fantastic ice cream, we thought an ice cream van would be ideal,' explained Harry Thompson, a call operator at Devon Doctors who has lived in Teignmouth all his life.