POLICE worker Victoria Smith is to run the London Marathon to raise money for a charity close to her heart and to inspire her two young daughters.

Mrs Smith, from Devizes, who works for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner at Police HQ, will raise money for Parkinson’s UK as her dad has suffered from the disease for the past 16 years.

She announced her decision to run the marathon on International Women’s Day on Friday and said: “I’m doing it for my lovely dad who has had Parkinson’s for the past 16 years but also to inspire both my young daughters Verity, six, and Lois, four, that you can do anything in life if you’re determined enough. What better message for International Women’s Day.

“I’ve now cracked the long, steep Caen Hill locks in Devizes - I managed to run up it the other day. I couldn’t have done that a few weeks ago.”

She will run 26.2 miles for her charity on April 26. To support her go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Victoria-Smith111