FORMER police officer Kerry Tiley, who only passed her motorcycle test last year, is riding 2,500 miles round Britain for the Fisherman's Mission.

Ms Tiley, a 39-year-old mother of three, from Salisbury Close, in Chippenham, left the force 12 years ago to have children and has been the regional organiser for the charity, which looks after fishermen and their families, for the last 18 months.

She set off on Saturday, with her friend Martin Lake. The pair intend to be on their bikes for between eight and ten hours every day as they visit each of the mission's 14 centres, collecting sponsorship en route.

Ms Tiley's longest ride since she passed her test in August has been 300 miles, so the week-long ride, which started in Portsmouth and is taking in both John O'Groats and Land's End, was a challenging prospect.

Before she set off she said: "I'm approaching the ride with a mixture of excitement and apprehension."

"I'll be travelling through some amazing countryside, but eight to ten hours on the road each day is a daunting prospect for an experienced motorcyclist, let alone a novice like me. I may need a crane to get me off the bike at the end of each day."

The Fishermen's Mission is the only national charity exclusively for fishermen and their families. It offers grants to widows if their husbands, who work in Britain's most dangerous industry, are lost at sea. Nine men are killed or seriously injured a month and three boats are lost

"The cost of fish is not just what we pay in the shops and I wanted to do something challenging," she said.