VINTAGE vehicle enthusiast John Pomeroy is setting out in a 65-year-old lorry on September 21 on an 800-mile trek to raise funds for a machine of another era.

The enthusiast is driving his 1937 Albion three-ton lorry on the West Coast road run to raise funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Mr Pomeroy spent 21 months and 2,000 hours restoring the old Albion lorry to its former showroom condition.

He said: "What better than to drive this lovely old lorry on a trip across some of the most spectacular countryside and raise money for what most people in Wiltshire can associate with the Air Ambulance."

The lorry is already in Scotland, after Mr Pomeroy took the only working example of its type on the five-day Albion run, which ended at the former Albion factory.

Mr Pomeroy said: "It will be fun driving on the longest road run and with many enthusiasts taking part its going to be a great social event.

"I have made many many friends over the years who all share the common interest in vintage vehicles." Mr Pomeroy is calling his fundraising bid 'the tanner a mile'.

He said: "For those who remember the old sixpence it's just two and a half pence in new money, over the 800-mile course that makes £20 and that's my appeal. It doesn't take much at £20 a donation to raise my target of over £1,000 for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance."

The event is scheduled to last seven days with the vehicles starting and finishing at Lockerbie, travelling to Fort William and the islands of Skye, Harris and Lewis.

Mr Pomeroy has set up his charity account at the NatWest bank in Warminster.

The Air Ambulance relies on public donations of £200,000 a year to keep it in operation.