Former oil tanker captain Pete Webb will be landlocked for the next few weeks as he cycles from Land’s End to John O’ Groats to raise cash for two worthy causes.

It is not the first time the 68-year-old bachelor from Market Lavington has raised money for charity. In 2004 he rode from Brands Hatch to Monaco over ten days to raise money for F1 driver David Coulthard’s charity the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust.

But this year’s trip nearly didn’t come off. Mr Webb said: “I arranged with the British Heart Foundation to do the ride under their auspices, but they had to pull the plug on it.

“So I looked around and found that there are quite a lot of companies organising these cycle trips, so I signed up with one of those.”

Mr Webb rode off with 24 other cyclists on the 1,000-mile ride, hoping to arrive at John O’ Groats on August 10. He has already raised £3,500 that the BHF required from its riders, so sponsorship money that comes in from now on will go to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal. To contribute go to www.justgiving.com/petewebb4wiltshire-air-ambulance