HEARTLESS thieves stole charity cash collected by a fund-raiser suspended 300ft up Cheddar Gorge. Adam Young, aged 22, spent a week on a portaledge raising money for a cancer research charity in memory of his sister. But on the second night of his feat, c

HEARTLESS thieves stole charity cash collected by a fund-raiser suspended 300ft up Cheddar Gorge.Adam Young, aged 22, spent a week on a portaledge raising money for a cancer research charity in memory of his sister.But on the second night of his feat, callous thieves broke into one of the collection pots at the bottom of the gorge and made off with around £20.However, when visitors heard about the theft, many dug deep into their pockets to cover the cost of the money stolen.Adam said: "I had so much support, it was amazing. A lot of people gave extra money to make up for what was stolen."I had lots of people coming to see me and shouting and waving at me. People also abseiled down and spent time on the portaledge."The night before he was due to step back onto firm ground his fiancee, Elizabeth Lewis, abseiled down to the ledge to see Adam for half-an-hour.Adam said: "All my friends knew about it but they wanted to surprise me. It was great. She clung to the sides the whole time but I was really proud of her for doing it."Adam spent seven days on the tiny ledge with only a book, a Portaloo, a small cooker and a sleeping bag for company and managed to raise £5,000 for the G197 Fund.The tree surgeon from Trowbridge decided to attempt the challenge in memory of his sister Selena, who died from a rare liver cancer two years ago and would have been celebrating her 24th birthday last week.Adam said the hardest part of the feat was sitting still for so long. The avid climber said: "It's nice to be on flat ground. The height was fine, it didn't bother me at all. It was just the sheer boredom and not being able to stay comfortable."Going to the toilet and getting changed was also hard with my safety harness on. Everything that normally took about five minutes took half an hour."Adam is now hoping to sell his well-known portaledge on eBay to raise more money for the charity.