Channel record for Guernsey swimmer Roger Allsopp, 70

A retired surgeon has achieved his ambition of becoming the oldest person to swim the English Channel.

Roger Allsopp, from Guernsey, who was 70 in April, completed the 21-nautical mile swim in 17 hours and 51 minutes.

He said: "I do feel an immense sense of achievement and relief that I have been successful."

The former breast cancer surgeon beat the current Guinness World Record set by George Brunstad, the uncle of Hollywood actor Matt Damon.

Mr Allsopp, who described his feat as "an incredible personal challenge", was hoping to raise thousands of pounds towards cancer research at the University of Southampton.

"I've never been one to sit on my laurels. Retirement has been wonderful but I know how important it is to keep active in mind and body to live a healthy retirement and so I set myself physical challenges to ensure that I keep as fit and healthy as I can," he said.

Mr Allsopp, a grandfather-of-three, set off from Shakespeare Beach in Dover at 08:00 BST on Tuesday.

His attempt came 136 years after British merchant navy captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the Channel, doing the breaststroke from Dover to Cap Gris Nez in 21 hours, 45 minutes.

Mr Allsopp has a record of physical challenges having run the London Marathon at the age of 60 and completed his first Channel swim at the age of 65 in 2006, becoming the oldest Briton at the time to do so.