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Man uses £2 bus fare cap to circle England and Wales

BBC Smiling man in a fleecy top riding a busBBC
Andrew Cowell has previously travelled all the way to Poland by bus

A man has completed his latest challenge of travelling the length and breadth of England and Wales - mostly by bus.

Andrew Cowell's latest journey took him from the East Midlands to the Lake District, then across to the East Coast and down to Kent, before heading to the tip of Cornwall and back through the West Country and Wales.

His trip was completed using 80 routes as well as one ferry, and two unscheduled bus replacement rail trips when his timetabled plans went slightly awry.

The total cost of his 13-day trip totalled about £170, thanks to the £2 fare cap scheme.

Mr Cowell, 47, from Allestree in Derby, told the BBC: "It was supposed to be 84 buses but I realised I could cut one out, and there were two incidents where I had to get the train.

"The first one was a planning error on my part where I was going to miss the last bus to King's Lynn.

"The second time was more annoying, the bus didn't actually go from where the timetable said it was going to go from, so I saw the bus but I wasn't on it."

His journey took him through Grimsby, while a Sky News general election leaders' debate was taking place.

And it only rained once - in Kent - during his trip.

Mr Cowell said he did not catch a single bus without any fellow travellers on board, and he found the more rural areas to be more friendly with passengers in Wales among the most chatty.

Man with backpack waiting at a rural bus stop
Mr Cowell spent about £170 to travel across England and Wales

But he said his favourite trip was from Polperro in Cornwall to Polruan, where he was due to catch a ferry to Fowey.

He said: "It was basically this tiny minibus which goes down a single-track road with grass growing in the middle - I'm not sure what happens if there's someone coming the other way."

The journey was Mr Cowell's fourth attempt to travel a huge distance taking advantage of the government's fare cap scheme.

He has previously travelled by bus to Whitby, to Penzance and even to Poland from his Derby home.

But his next trip could take him even further.

He said: "I could go one bigger and try to go around the world - maybe next year."

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