A COLCHESTER schoolboy is gearing up for an endurance cycle ride to raise funds for the Royal British Legion.

Tony Wilson, 44, who works in IT at Essex and Suffolk Water, will ride from London to Brussels over four days and complete an incredible 300 miles in the saddle.

The armed forces are close to Tony's heart because his father Robert served in the King's Own Royal Border Regiment for 22 years including being stationed at the Colchester barracks, while he attended the Alderman Blaxill School.

Tony begins his trek from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Wednesday, May 11, and travels to Harwich where he will board a ferry to the continent.

Mr Wilson said: "I wanted to do this huge peddling challenge and reach three different cities, by the end we will have ridden through London, Amsterdam and Brussels."

He will be accompanied by two ex-servicemen both of whom served with the Royal Signals - Leigh Necrews, 40, and Simon Booth, 51 – and who took part in tours in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo with Mr Booth being deployed during the first Gulf War.

To sponsor the team visit justgiving.com/TonyWilson1607