Cambridge University students are expected to go far in life, but Stephanie Posner and Miriam Shaul wanted to find out just how far.

The two undergraduates set out to see what distance they could put between themselves and the university town over the course of one weekend, without spending any of their own money.

The pair, both aged 21 and from north-west London, managed to persuade members of the public to stump up the funds for train tickets to London and then for a return flight to Barcelona, worth a total of £280.

In the Spanish city, they persuaded a five-star hotel to put them up for no charge.

The students, who were taking part in Jailbreak, a university rag-week event, collected £600 for charity.

Ms Posner said: “I did all of the talking and Miriam wore our charity T-Shirt and helped me convince people to help us. It worked well. We kept it quite funny and I think people like that.”