The Proclaimers may have sung about walking 500 miles, but now former England cricketer Phil Tufnell is actually going to complete the epic journey.

And to prove he's not talking a load of old googlies, Phil travelled to Swindon for a spot of pre-walk training.

The npower 500 will see Phil walk 500 miles around England, visiting numerous cricket grounds, in an attempt to raise £250,000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief.

RWE Innogy, parent company of npower, has more than 1,000 staff based at its Windmill Hill Business Park headquarters in West Swindon.

Phil, who captains a team on BBC's They Think It's All Over, walked the floors of the building breaking in his new trainers and collecting cash for the charity, which helps people living with cancer. His mum, Sylvia, died of the disease in 1980.

Phil said: "The npower 500 is going to be my biggest test yet but it's a challenge I look forward to.

"I lost my mother to leukaemia and understand the difference that a charity like Macmillan can make to people living with cancer.

"I'm still quite fit from my playing days but have been going to the gym two or three times a week."

Phil, who was crowned king of the jungle following ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here last year, added: "The furthest I've walked before is about 100 yards to my local so this will be a real test. They say it gets the feet more than anything but apparently standing in buckets of sand to toughen up the skin works."

The walk starts on May 16 and finishes 28 days later on June 12.

Visit www.npower500.com or call 0207 840 4642 for more information.

aemery@newswilts.co.uk