AN aspiring film maker from Crediton has cycled the length of England in just nine days, raising hundreds of pounds for charity.

Ali Rickey (22) started his journey from John O'Groats, in Scotland, on Saturday, October 10 and completed it on Monday, October 19 at Lands End, after 930 back-breaking miles.

The recent Birmingham University graduate has so far raised £1,465 for the charity, Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Mr Rickey said: "The worst bit of it was definitely the constant pain in my knees, but it was worth it.

"The hospitality of friends and family with whom I stayed along the way has been really amazing and I am just so grateful to all of them."

Mr Rickey's aunt and uncle suffer from MS, a degenerative and debilitating disease, in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system.

Said Mr Rickey: "It has affected their lives, the family cope well but it is difficult for all of us."

Ali is a keen athlete and although the cycle from John O'Groats to Lands End is his greatest venture yet, it is not his last.

In September 2008 he cycled 850 miles from Faro in Portugal to Saint Andrea in Spain. Of the ride he said: "This wasn't for charity, I was just trying to get home from my holiday, which I had taken in Portugal."

He graduated from Birmingham University this year after receiving a 2:1 for his history degree thesis. He will be doing a ski season in Morzine, France, in December and plans to return to England in the spring to pursue a career in the film industry.