This Is Local London: London to Sydney Taxi

Three friends are driving a taxi from London to Sydney in a bid to complete the longest ever cab journey.

And you can follow their exploits on This is Local London.

We are publishing their Twitter updates below and will also show pictures and video taken by the trio.

Paul Archer, 23, from Gloucestershire, Johno Ellison, 27, from Leeds, and Leigh Purnell, 23, from Staffordshire hope to break the world record by driving more than 30,000 miles across 39 countries and 10 time zones.

During the eight-month road trip, the men want to raise £20,345, equivalent to the fare they would clock up on the journey, for the British Red Cross.

The meter began rolling when the friends set off from the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden on Thursday February 17th.

Since then, they have been blogging and tweeting about their trip and leaving pictures on Facebook.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wished the team luck and said he was "delighted" to see the iconic symbol of London being used to raise money for charity.

Mr Archer, who quit his job as a recruitment consult in London, to undertake the challenge, said the idea came about after a costly taxi ride had left him and his mates wondering what the most expensive fare was.

They bought the cab on eBay for £1,500 and have spent the last two years modifying the vehicle in preparation for their journey. Check their itsonthemeter.com website for more details.