A disabled Bognor Regis man completed his marathon trek in a wheelchair across Britain a day early. Mr. John Hayward, of Glencathara Road, crossed the finishing line at Lands End on Sunday 24 hours before he originally planned to beat the Bank Holiday traffic.

He made his 1,200 mile journey from the north-eastern tip of Scotland with another wheelchair- bound person and several helpers in aid of the Winged Fellowship group. This runs four holiday centres in England and Wales for disabled people. And Mr. Hayward (47), hopes the trip will have raised about £10,000 for the group. Nearly half of this was donated by people during the lengthy trip.

Mr. Hayward, who has been confined to a wheel-chair all his life, said: "Everybody we met was generous and absolutely superb. The journey was very enjoyable but Britain is a long country when you look south from John O'Groats."

The worst problem  he encountered was sunburn as the constantly sunny weather sent temperatures rising. His electric wheel-chair coped well with the average 40 miles each day Mr. Hayward completed.

He said he was glad to be home to recover from the trek but may consider attempting it again as a challenge to good to refuse.