A FATHER-of-two has just returned from a five-day trek in Peru to raise money for a cancer charity.

Nigel Hawkins (43) of Belgrave Street, Radcliffe undertook the walk along the ancient Inca Trail in Peru, near the Chilean border, and raised more than £3,000 for the Macmillan Cancer Relief Fund.

The construction project manager spent two days travelling to Peru and "roughed it" by camping overnight in a tent high in the Andes with temperatures of 20 degrees by day and minus five degrees at night.

He said: "There were no hotels, toilets, telephones or washing facilities. I went four days without a wash or shower - it was a bit weird!

"At least the walk wasn"t physically demanding. We walked for about eight hours each day."

A common illness for hikers is altitude sickness, also known as acute mountain sickness, whereby sufferers can feel nauseous and out of breath while they are walking up a particularly high mountain.

"I felt a bit sick at one point when I walked at an altitude of 12,000 feet," he said.

Mr Hawkins said he plumped for the charity walk because most people know a friend or relative who has suffered with cancer and Macmillan help to nurse the cancer patients through what can be a painful and long recovery.

He paid for his own travel expenses, saying: "Any money I raise through sponsorship will go directly to the care of cancer patients.

"Macmillan work alongside the health service and provide nurses, care and health for people with cancer on a voluntary basis."

Mr Hawkins plans to do more fundraising next year for the charity in the form of a coast-to-coast bike ride in Mexico.

Every week almost 800 people are diagnosed with cancer in Britain.