A DARWEN man will celebrate his 40th birthday by competing in the London Marathon to raise money for cancer research.

Ian Black, of Marsh House Lane, will be taking part in his fourth marathon since he started applying to take part in 1992.

The service engineer decided to run for charity for the second time and has been busy training for the event in April.

Wife, Maria, and their two children, Laura, 10 and six-year-old Thomas, will be cheering for Ian in the race.

Linda Chatburn, Darwen fundraiser for Cancer Research, said: "Anything that local people can do is really appreciated by the charity and Ian has trained so hard for the marathon and has put so much effort in. We are grateful to him for choosing Cancer Research."

Individuals and businesses are invited to sponsor Ian.

For more information call 01254 703731.