AIRLINE pilot Philip Taylor has raised more than £5,000 for National Kidney Research by travelling from Lands End to John O'Groats the hard way, by bicycle instead of at the controls of an aircraft.

Last Wednesday Mr Taylor, 47, from Marlborough, presented a cheque to the north Wiltshire co-ordinator of the charity, Sylvia Higgs, and the national fundraising manager Narissa Frost.

It took Mr Taylor exactly two weeks to complete the 1,009-mile cycle ride. By air the same trip would have taken a few hours.

He decided on the marathon sponsored bike ride because one of his relatives had kidney disease. "I thought the best way I could help was by raising money for kidney research," he said.

Mr Taylor was not a regular cyclist before his marathon in October, but he said he plans to get back in the saddle after the winter. "I was quite surprised to find that I really enjoyed it and I will certainly be cycling more in the future," he said.

Mr Taylor said he was also pleasantly surprised that he experienced only some minor discomfort on his long ride. He completed the journey without so much as a puncture, although a spoke in one of his wheels broke on the penultimate day of his marathon.