AN 84-year-old ex-paratrooper from Bingley will be striding out on an 84 mile trek along Hadrian's Wall to raise funds for injured service personnel at the end of the month.

Jeffrey Long will be leading two intrepid Yorkshire walkers on the yomp to raise funds for the Royal British Legion’s Battle Back Appeal.

Mr Long is a hardened veteran of many long distance walks and has received the MBE for his charity work, including a 1,000 kilometre walked from London to Lausanne in Switzerland, for the British Legion.

He also walked the 127 miles of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal for a cancer trust which supports children in the cancer ward at St James Hospital, Leeds and in 2011, along with Eric Ogden and Gary Peacock he walked 90 miles from Catterick Garrison via Ripon and York, RAF Leeming and Thornbury Barracks, plus a day walking the Three Peaks and finished at Bradford Cathedral.

He will again be accompanied by Mr Ogden from Brighouse, and Gary Peacock, the general manager of the Midland Hotel, Bradford, together with Alan Wanbon from Norfolk, an ex-member of the RAF Regiment who served in The Falklands and Afghanistan.

The six day hike leaves on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31 and follows the wall until the finish at Wallsend on Saturday, September 5.

Mr Long said one secret of his lifelong fitness was always trying to go the extra mile.

"The best way to keep mind and body working is by helping others.

"And if we have fun raising money, that's a bonus."

Mr Ogden who until his retirement ran a printing company in Bradford, spoke of his excitement ahead of the trek.

He said: "We know it is going to be a challenge but we have prepared our route well and are all raring to go.

"Our route will take in 14 miles a day and we have already arranged our overnight stops at the end of each day so all that side of the journey is sorted out. All we need now is some reasonably good weather to see us through our journey,” Mr Ogden said.

He pointed out the length of their trek covered 84 miles which, he said, equated to one mile for every year of Jeffrey’s age.

"Jeffrey is very experienced in tackling these types of long distance walks, so we have been guided by him when it has come to planning and preparation," said Eric.

Anyone interested in supporting the venture can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/jeffrey-long.