Two university friends who work in the pharmaceutical industry will this month attempt to drive some 3,600 miles from Luton to the city of Banjul in the Gambia to raise money for charity.

Rajan Pattni, 42, and Jagdeep Rai, 41, will drive through France, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal before reaching Banjul. The jeep they will drive will be auctioned off and the proceeds donated to the Rotary Club in The Gambia which supports a variety of charities.

The pair are also raising money for Legs4Africa, a Leicestershire-headquartered charity which collects used prosthetic legs and ships them to African countries where they can be modified for use by amputees and landmine victims.

Pattni works for the US medical equipment manufacturer Baxter International Inc and Rai, the managing director of RL Pharma Consulting Ltd, was head of medical affairs for Bayer Consumer Health UK & Ireland. Their journey is expected to take three weeks.

“The thought of being on the road for three solid weeks, spending days crossing the desert and the likelihood of many nights spent sleeping in our vehicle, does make you think twice,” he said.

“However, this has been a dream of ours for many years, it’s an itch that needs scratching and most importantly, we’ll be raising money for charity in the process.”

Pattni said: “We planned to do this challenge 15 years ago and due to various circumstances we couldn’t go ahead with it, so now it’s official, we just can’t wait to get started.”