Two men will visit 55 coastal piers around the UK in seven days in an emotional bid to raise money for charity.

Ian Dickinson and his life-long friend John Harney are undertaking the epic journey they have dubbed Pier Pressure in memory of their fathers.

The idea was born out of a trip to Southwold Pier in East Anglia where John told Ian of his long-term ambition to visit every pier in the UK.

John, 36, of Yeadon, said: "Whenever myself and my dad were having a day by the sea we would always spend time walking on the piers and we made a pact that we would visit them all.

"He died of pneumonia at Christmas in 2004 so I am undertaking this trip in his memory."

Ian, 35, of Hill Brow Close, Allerton, Bradford, said: "John has always wanted to do it and I thought we could manage it in a week so we decided to do it for a couple of charities."

The money they raise will be divided equally between Marie Curie Cancer Care Hospice in Bradford and Tia Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue.

"My father Terry was nursed in the Marie Curie Hospice in 2001 and we got a lot of support from them and wanted to give something back," said Ian who owns two greyhounds called Eric and Lucy. "Tia Greyhounds helps re-home rescue dogs."

The pair will keep a diary during their journey and update their website on a daily basis.

Both men work as sales managers for Supplies Team in Vicar Lane, Bradford, a computer consumables company. "Our company is sponsoring us so we hope to raise a lot of money," said Ian.

He said the journey has been done before but never this quickly.

"Two men did the journey on foot and public transport a few years ago and that took a month," he said.

Ian and John will travel hundreds of miles as they cover swathes of coast by car but they will not say exactly how far they will travel. "We have set up a competition on our website and the person who comes nearest to guessing the exact distance we cover will win a prize," said Ian, who has a daughter called Molly.

The pair will set off on Saturday, July 29, at noon from Central Pier in Blackpool and hope to arrive back at the same pier a week later to the hour.

Anyone who would like to donate to the charities and enter the competition can visit www.pierpressure2006.info.

e-mail: jennifer.sugden @bradford.newsquest.co.uk ENDS