Some might say it is not uncommon for taxi drivers to take the long way around, but today three intrepid men have arrived back in Britain after a black cab journey that took them around the world.

Three British men have completed an epic journey across four continents and fifty countries in the process breaking the record for the longest ever trip in a taxi.

Paul Archer, 23, from Gloucestershire, Johno Ellison, 27, from Leeds, and Leigh Purnell, 23, from Staffordshire, arrived back in Covent Garden, London today after driving more than 43,000 miles (69,000km) in a 20-year-old black cab called Hannah.

During their circumnavigation of the globe the men raised £20,000 for the Red Cross.

After setting off from London last year, they drove through Russia, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal before going on to Tibet and China.

Hannah was shipped to Australia and then the US to continue the journey.

In the process they smashed the world record for the longest ever taxi journey as well as the record for the highest ever taxi journey after driving Hannah to Everest base camp.

Their journey, however, was not without its perils - they were detained by Iranian secret police and Paul Archer was deported from Iran when authorities suspected he was a spy.

They were also arrested in Moscow and got stuck on the border of Moldova with the wrong visas.

The men have estimated that had the meter been running throughout their trip the final bill would have been close to £80,000.