The air was filled with the sound of revving Lambrettas and Vespas as a gang of mods took to the road to raise money for a wartime memorial.

In a scene reminiscent of the film Quadrophenia, some 70 scooters from the Foresters Scooter Club, based at the Napier Arms, Woodford New Road, South Woodford, rode in convoy to the Misty Moon Pub in Bethnal Green on Sunday to raise money for a memorial to the 173 civilians who were crushed to death at the Bethnal Green tube disaster of 1943.

Club newsletter editor Peter Sceates said: “It was a great day. Riding along with such a huge range of scooters in different styles made me feel 19 again, which is a special thing.

“It was one of the most successful charity rides we have done.”

After collecting at the pub all day, the mod revivalists presented the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust with a cheque for �622. The money will go towards a permanent memorial to victims of the disaster.

Mr Sceates added: “I even sang Stairway to Heaven, and it’s not often you will hear a mod singing along to Led Zepplin.”

The scooter club shut down in 1969 but was resurrected in 2002. Although it is mostly made up of mod “revivalists” from the 1980s, it does boast two original members from the 1960s.