He's already cycled nearly 2,000 miles for charity and had pledged to give up this year.

But 75-year-old Donald Thompson will be completing a final 100-mile cycle ride in one day this weekend.

The fundraiser from Colerne will be among dozens of people taking part in an annual ride for the charity Action Medical Research.

Mr Thompson took part in the challenge, which sees riders going from Bath to Kempton Park in Middlesex, for the first time in 1987.

Since then he has completed the route annually, raising thousands of pounds for the organisation which funds medical research in the UK.

Mr Thompson, who has been a keen cyclist since the 1950s, still uses the same bike he did when he began taking part in the event – and has only needed one change of saddle since.

He said he had planned to stand down from the challenge this year but after his window cleaner decided to sign up for Sunday's ride, decided to keep going to provide moral support.

He said: "I was going to stop this year but after he told me he wanted to do it, I wanted to encourage him.

"It gets harder as you get older but the challenge is more or less the same as it was when I started."

Mr Thompson, who before retirement was managing director of a typesetting company in Bath, is a paper boy in the village and his rounds have been part of his training regime.

He has been part of a team of people from Colerne embarking on the challenge which has consistently won an award for raising the most amount of money during the event.

Over the years he has raised around £15,000 for Action Medical Research.

He said: "When you're younger you start supporting a charity for whatever reason and you just carry on supporting them."

The group funds research into a range of diseases and conditions and its work has helped develop the UK polio vaccine and ultrasound scanning.

For more information on the ride and for sponsorship details visit www.action.org.uk.