IN PICTURES: King of Jungle, Carl Fogarty, leads 5,000 on charity Bike4Life ride

I'm a Celebrity winner Carl Fogarty and presenter Richard Hammond led from the front in the fifth annual Bike4Life fundraiser in aid of the Midlands Air ambulance..

Fogarty, riding a Ducati scrambler, and Hammond, astride a 'boring' BMW R1200RT, both praised the work of the Midlands Air Ambulance having both relied on the expert skills of its paramedics in the past.

The sun shone as the thousands of motorcyclists enjoyed the 23-mile ride-out to the Bike4Life festival at RAF Cosford, near Wolverhampton.

As well as raising much-needed money for the Midlands Air Ambulance, Bike4Life also promotes road safety.

Speaking before the start of the event in Shrewsbury yesterday, Hammond said: "I love anything that brings together the biking community anyway, and particularly if it brings it together with an eye to the services that we need, like air ambulances.

"We're all here for the same reason. We love bikes and we're aware of the fact that like any other pastime, you can get injured and when that happens the services of the air ambulance can be the difference between life and death.

"So this is showing support for the work that they do for us and for everybody else."

Both Fogarty, known as Foggy, and Hammond had reason to be thankful for the air ambulance service. Richard Hammond was flown to hospital in Leeds in 2006 after an horrific crash involving a jet-powered dragster.

Speaking at RAF Cosford's bike festival after the ride, which began in Shrewsbury, King of the Jungle Fogarty said: "Today has been really nice. I always enjoy these events and the sun is shining and we are raising awareness for a good cause.

"The ride out was really amazing. I enjoyed that, it felt special and humbling to lead all these bikes along the road. I had goosebumps seeing all the fans as we rode past on the bridges.

"The air ambulance is very important. The charity is closer to me than some others, I think I have used it quite a few times over the years. It's a service we definitely need. I think it costs about £6 million a year to keep one of these things in the air."

Hammond said he had considered taking part in the rally on a "civilianised" version of one of Fogarty's race bikes but decided against it. The TV presenter explained: "It's a treasured possession and I thought brilliant, I'll come on that.

"And then I thought no, because I'm not riding that next to Foggy himself, I'll feel such an idiot. So I'm on my boring bike."

Hammond, who later went with co-presenter James May to see some of their bikes being sold off at the Staffordshire County Showground in Stafford, was also asked if he had any news on the future of the BBC's Top Gear programme following the decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract.

Hammond told reporters: "Everybody knows what's happened. That's all been in the news. The future, nobody knows yet do they? And I cannot and won't speculate further than that. So I don't know, let's see. It'll be exciting whatever."

Helen Stevens, from the Midlands Air Ambulance, said: "It is enormous for us.

"We put this on every year and hope people will come and support us and they have come in their drones.

"People have shown their support for the air ambulance and the museum and Carl Fogarty's support for the event has really helped with that."

Michelle Morgans, of the RAF Museum Cosford, added: "Today has been brilliant the weather has been absolutely fantastic, it has brought the bikers out to take part in their thousands. From the museum's perspective this opens us up to a whole new audience it brings people here, events of this scale do not happen all that often and this is fast becoming one of our big events.

"And there has been great support from members of the public who lined the streets to show their support."

When the convoy arrived at RAF Cosford, the Bike4Life festival included live music supported by Planet Rock, trade stalls and arena entertainment.

The Midlands Air Ambulance, which relies solely on donations from the public, operates three emergency helicopters covering 5,500 square miles including Birmingham and the wider West Midlands, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

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