THE four madcap lads who set off from Teignmouth in a pink ice cream van for Mongolia, are nearing their destination – but the journey has not been without mechanical problems.

They are heading for Ulaanbaatar, the ancient capital more than 5,000 miles away, in the Mongol Rally, and report that close to the Russian-Georgian border, they blew a head gasket on the 25 year-old Renault.

'We obtained a new one in Tbilisi, fitted it in the mountains and continued onwards,' reported one of the 23-year-olds, Harry Thompson.