Birmingham man's challenge to visit every inhabited UK island

John Chatteron has spent five years travelling the UK's inhabited islands

A man is close to completing his goal of visiting every inhabited island in the UK after help from the Royal Navy.

John Chatterton, from Birmingham, has spent five years visiting islands including Wight, Skye and Tresco as well as ones that are privately owned.

His 220th island was ticked off when he was welcomed to Whale Island, a Royal Naval base in Portsmouth, normally closed to civilians and visitors.

The author needs to visit just three more islands to complete his challenge.

"There are some wonderful, beautiful islands around the UK, each one has a story to tell, and there are some wonderful, quirky characters," the 74-year-old from Moseley said.

Mr Chatterton landing on Soay from Isle of Skye

During his five-year adventure, he said he had seen "some fascinating local customs and learned how people live on the fringes of our islands".

Among the highlights was a visit to the Isle of Ewe on the coast of Ross and Cromarty in Scotland, which he said was "a popular haunt for honeymooners apparently because it's pronounced: I love you".

Mr Chatterton says he'll need to use his charm to visit the last three islands on his list which are privately owned

Whale Island, so-named for its shape, is a semi-man-made island in Portsmouth Harbour and home to the Royal Navy's headquarters.

The Navy said it was "delighted to help John complete a wonderful adventure".

"Whale Island has been a superb end to a lovely project and the Navy's hospitality has been fantastic," Mr Chatterton said.

Now his challenge is nearly complete, Mr Chatterton plans to write a book about his experiences and tick off those final inhabited islands.