A DARING duo will try to smash the British cycle speed record - on a customised tandem.

Dave Le Grys from Little Horkesley and Neil Campbell from Colchester have spent just £1,000 on the bizarre contraption which they hope will break the record set by TV's Guy Martin.

The 20-year-old tandem has been adapted so it has just one seat and a walking crutch on the front.

It other functional additions include scrap car parts, scrap metal, knicker elastic, exhaust mounting rubbers from a 1989 Ford Escort and an ex-RAF parachute.

Dave, 60, said: "We have been finding lots of bits knocking around in the garage and have been going from there.

"We have got a tandem, we have brought it up to the spec we need for the record attempt.

"We have taken the back seat off and the back pedals.

"We have converted it so it can fit Neil and there are mechanisms at the front to stop it going into the back of the pacer car."

The contraption will be attached to a Volkswagen Passat which will follow another pacer car, driven by Dave, on the two-mile runway.

Once the pacer cars get up to the required speed of 70mph, the cycle will travel in their slipstream to try to reach 115mph.

The current record is 112.9mph.

The cycle has a walking crutch on the front to enable it to stop once the record has been attempted and which will act as a buffer as it collides into the Volkswagen.

Explaining what could go wrong, Dave said: "There could be a puncture, something could happen to the pacer cars or we get the co-ordination wrong, but the biggest danger is braking.

"The slipstream of the cars will be 115mph. If Neil is pulled out of the slipsteam he would get blown away by the turbulence.

"He needs to use the slipstream until speeds are down to 70 to 80 mph, then he can brake."

The pair are part of a team attempting the record break, known as Operation Pacemaker, and wanted to break the record on a limited budget.

Dave set the British and Commonwealth Cycle Land Speed Record at 110 mph on a closed section of the M42 behind a British Touring car in 1986.

In 2013, he trained Mr Martin, the current British Land Speed Record holder, which featured in the TV series, Speed.

He recently underwent open heart surgery to repair his mitral heart valve while Neil, 43, lost his mother suddenly in 2012 due to a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

The challenge will be in aid of the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Dave added: "We wanted to raise money for a charity whilst we are attempting this record, for me it is a no brainer to help the British Heart Foundation. We have done a couple of tests and think the record is achievable, if we get good weather! I'm looking forward to the record attempt and raising some money for BHF’s life saving research.”

Neil said: “Next week will be a challenge; we're attempting high speeds on a short runway which means aggressive acceleration and hard breaking, quite dodgy really! But we've all been working hard to ensure we have a decent crack at beating the current record of 112.9mph. Having lost my mum to heart disease, raising money and supporting the BHF is incredibly important to me – and it’s great we can have fun and raise a few smiles in the process.”

To support Operation Pacemaker www.justgiving.com/operationpacemaker