Charity Bike Ride For Murdered Jo

24 May 2011, 10:15 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

The boyfriend and colleagues of Joanna Yeates have joined a charity cycle challenge in her memory.

The 25-year-old landscape architect lived in Bristol, but grew up in Ampfield near Romsey in Hampshire, where her parents still live. She disappeared on December 17 and her body was discovered on Christmas Day.

The cycle challenge has been organised by her former employers, BDP.

On Tuesday 24th May 29 employees from the Bristol office where Miss Yeates worked set off for the firm's Winchester office. They left at 7.30am wearing bright red and white shirts with the wording 'Cycle for Jo'.

They were led by Miss Yeates's boyfriend Greg Reardon, who lived with her at the time she was murdered.

Mr Reardon reported Miss Yeates missing after returning home to their flat from a weekend away.

'Cycle for Jo' will raise funds for Missing People, the Red Cross and the RSPCA - charities chosen by Mr Reardon and Miss Yeates's family.

The relay ride has involved more than 200 riders from BDP linking offices in the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

As he prepared to set off on a borrowed bike, Alex Shovelton, 26, said: "Jo was a good friend and this means a lot to us."

He added: "Greg's joining us and Jo's dad, so it's a very fitting way of remembering her."

Vincent Tabak, a Dutch engineer who lived next door to Miss Yeates, has pleaded guilty to her manslaughter but denies murder and is due to face trial at Bristol Crown Court on October 4.