Shrewsbury hospital nurse is swimming the River Severn

A hospital nurse doing a 220-mile challenge to swim the length of the River Severn says it is hard but worth it.

Melissa Compton, a 39-year-old intensive care worker at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, has set herself a three-week target to complete the feat.

On Monday, she spent six hours in the water, swimming from Montford Bridge, Shropshire, and into Shrewsbury, where friends joined her on the latest leg in which she was monitored from canoes by a support team.

Melissa is raising money for the charity Versus Arthritis as a thank you for funding stem cell treatment on her damaged knee.

She launched her bid from the Severn's source on a mountain in Wales and hopes to finish by swimming into the Bristol Channel and landing at Severn Beach.

Video journalist: John Bray