Northern Echo reporter Chris Webber is set to embark on a 450-mile walk from Brighton to County Durham to raise money for the paper’s Stanley Pit Disaster Memorial Appeal.

The long-distance challenge will take Chris a month to complete, as he journeys from the site of Britain’s oldest mine at Cissbury Ring, near Brighton, to Stanley, County Durham.

He said: “I’ll be walking by myself for most of the time, although I will have people joining me along the way for a day or two here and there.

“I have had to spend time researching and planning the route, but the hardest part was getting a month off work!”

Chris, (33), will begin the walk on Saturday, June 12, and hopes to arrive at the Durham Miners Gala on Saturday, July 10, before going on to Stanley the following day.

On average he will walk 20 miles a day, sometimes spending six or seven hours on the road.

Chris is hoping that sponsorship money raised from the adventure will help boost the coffers of his paper’s Stanley Pit Disaster Memorial Appeal, which he has worked on since its launch in 2002.

The appeal aims to raise enough money for a graveside memorial at the site of two mass burial trenches where 54 people lie who died in the 1909 explosion.

Chris said: “I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s a bit scary but I’m looking forward to it and have been on a long overdue fitness regime.

“The only disappointing thing is that I will have to cut back on parts of the walk through London and up to Cambridge because of time constraints.

“However, from Cambridge I will be able to walk every step of the way to Stanley.”