Paramedic begins air ambulance charity coastal hike

Robert Stanfield will be walking 630 miles along the South West Coast Path from Minehead to Poole

A paramedic is taking part in a 630 mile (1,013 km) hike around the south west coast of England to raise money for an air ambulance charity.

Robert Stanfield from Clevedon, north Somerset, is aiming to walk about 26 miles a day over the next 25 days.

He said: "We see the air ambulance when we're out on the road quite a lot to support our most critical patients.

"They're entirely charity funded and I couldn't imagine losing that service if the funding stopped."

'Big psychological challenge'

The money raised in the hike - which started on Wednesday - will go to the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity.

Although Mr Stanfield has experience of endurance events, they are usually much shorter than his current journey.

He said there was a "big psychological challenge of walking a marathon every day for 25 days".

His route will take him along the north Devon and Cornwall coast to Land's End, down to Lizard Point and up through south Devon, where a "big curry" will be waiting for him at the finish line.

Mr Stanfield's mother and sister will also join him for the last few miles.

Mr Stanfield will be walking an average of nine hours per day

Travelling with only a backpack and a small tent, he will be sleeping outside for most of his route.

He said: "I invested in some new boots before I started, because the terrain is so steep in places.

"I wanted to do something a bit different and I'm motivated to raise as much money as I can for the charity."