CYCLING 75 miles a day for 13 days may not be everybody's idea of fun but for Nick Neal it was a challenge he could not resist.

The 19-year-old, from Robert Street, Oswaldtwistle, has just completed the famous End to End bike ride from Land's End to John o'Groats.

Nick, a former pupil at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Blackburn, decided to make the 975.6-mile journey for charity on an ordinary racing bike.

Sponsorship came from family, friends and regulars at the Plough Hotel, Broadfield, Oswaldtwistle, where he works as a barman.

After just a month's training and fundraising for his chosen charity - Cancer and Leukaemia in Children (CLIC) - he was on his way.

"It was something I had had my eye on and I thought I wish I could do that," he said. "I had a bit of time before I start university so I thought why not."

The tour was all part of Nick's gap year activities, which also included a month backpacking around Europe.

In September he starts a degree in geography and geology at Manchester University.

"I would recommend the trip but with more than one month's training," he said.