STAFF from defence technology firm QinetiQ are marking the 70th anniversary of radar coming to Malvern with a fund-raising cycle ride from Dorset to Malvern.

The 150-mile route commemorates the wartime move made by QinetiQ’s ancestor, the Telecommunications Research Establishment, which pioneered the UK’s radar research.

Twelve staff from Malvern will be cycling with a support crew, setting out from the old TRE site at Worth Matravers in Dorset on Wednesday and arriving back home the next day.

Team spokesman Mark Roberts said: “In February 1942, our paratroopers had successfully raided a German radar station in occupied France, and there were fears they might attack Worth Matravers in return. Churchill ordered TRE to leave the site, and they came to Malvern in May 1942.”

The cyclists will be raising money for Help for Heroes, the charity for service personnel. “I speak for everyone at QinetiQ when I say we have nothing but the utmost respect for our brave servicemen and women, and we're happy to be able to help them in our small way,” said Mr Roberts. “We’ve set a target of £3,000, but I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to do better than that.”

The team will be stopping overnight near Bath, and on the second day they will be joined by personnel from the Ministry of Defence procurement headquarters at Abbey Wood, Bristol, one of QinetiQ’s major customers.

􀁥 Malvern College, where QinetiQ’s forerunner, the Telecommunications Research Establishment, was based during the Second World War, is holding an exhibition and dinner to mark the anniversary.

The exhibition is open now and the dinner, which will be attended by Mid- Worcestershire MP Peter Luff, the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, is on Thursday