LONG-distance cyclist Maurice Fisher aims to clock up £1,000 to help youngsters with leukaemia.

The 30-year-old children's champion is tackling a 240-mile sponsored bike ride from Oswaldtwistle to the world-famous Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London.

He will be setting out at 5am on Saturday from his home, the Rose and Crown pub, in Union Road, where his parents, Bob and Angela are the licensees.

Maurice, a relief operator at Lucas Rists, Accrington, is being backed up on the two-day journey by a Land Rover Discovery, driven by his dad.

Rists has arranged the vehicle, insured it and trimmed it up as an eye-catcher along the route.

Maurice's parents, who previously ran the Galligreaves pub, Blackburn, have been raising funds for children with leukaemia for the last nine years.

His sister, Tracey, previously worked on a leukaemia ward for youngsters at Great Ormond Street and is now nursing at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Maurice said: "I'm a keen keep-fit cyclist, not a club cyclist. I took up cycling again five years ago and bought the road bike I always wanted two years ago."

He has been weight training for the last six weeks, but confining his biking to cycling to and from work.

"Everything is coming to a head now and the adrenalin is beginning to flow."

Maurice is optimistic about hitting his £1,000 target with sponsor pledges from family, friends and work colleagues.

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