London Marathon snail crawl man Lloyd Scott sacked

Lloyd Scott crawled the 26.2-mile course dressed as the Magic Roundabout character Brian the Snail

A charity worker who crawled the London Marathon dressed as Brian the Snail from The Magic Roundabout has been sacked for not raising enough money.

Action for Kids fundraiser Lloyd Scott hoped to raise at least £100,000 for the charity but received about £20,000.

The 49-year-old former footballer from Essex, who has raised more than £5m for charity over the years, said he was "shocked" by the decision.

Action for Kids said Mr Scott was given his notice "due to losses incurred".

The charity said that expenses incurred by the charity included publicity and support costs.

Mr Scott was accompanied around the course by people dressed as other characters from the Magic Roundabout including Florence, Dylan and Zebedee.

'Deserve better'

He suffered nosebleeds and vomiting as he crawled the course at the pace of a mile a day.

The fundraiser said: "The trustees made their decision just 11 days after I'd finished the marathon.

"I hadn't recovered fully and was unable to fulfil the potential of the event.

"I don't think it has been handled in an appropriate manner. Anybody would deserve to be treated better."

Action For Kids founder Sally Bishop confirmed that the Board of Trustees asked Mr Scott to leave the charity.

"He was given notice according to his contract with us, due to losses incurred in his latest marathon.

"Our priority is always to our donors, and the children and families we support.

"So it is with regret we had to take this decision."

Ms Bishop added: "Whilst Lloyd's involvement in the marathon significantly raised our profile it did not result in any increased funding, and in fact, cost the charity several thousand pounds."

But Mr Scott said: "The costumes would have been used time and time again for school visits and corporate fundraising."

He stressed that the event was "planned, costed and endorsed" by the charity.

'Hardest marathon'

One of Mr Scott's previous fundraising efforts was when he took five days to complete the 2002 London Marathon in a deep sea diving suit.

But he said his latest attempt "was the hardest marathon I've ever undertaken".

He said he was unable to raise as much as he had hoped because of "the financial climate".

He added that public relations for his feat "wasn't handled properly" and he was given the go-ahead for the event "late in the day".

"As a result of the marathon a number of fundraising opportunities had arisen - it is a huge shame that I wasn't given the opportunity to maximise these," he said.

The former Blackpool, Watford and Leyton Orient footballer fought off leukaemia more than 20 years ago.

Mr Scott said he was "determined to continue fundraising for Action for Kids".