Gina Harris, 82, is preparing to cycle the length of Britain for charity

An 82-year-old woman is preparing to cycle the length of Britain and become the oldest woman to complete the challenge.

Gina Harris, from Birmingham, plans to ride from Land's End, in Cornwall, to John O'Groats, in Scotland, to raise money for Women's Aid and Refuge.

She said she had previously ridden around parts of Europe and the US and this trip would be her last "big one".

Ms Harris is due to set off on 27 May and aims to complete the ride in June.

The former photographer took up cycling aged 50 and joined Cycling UK to follow her passion. She said she hoped her challenge would show how important physical wellbeing was for women at any age.

She said: "I will be riding my old steel touring bike and carrying my luggage, which has a combined weight of more than 30kg, so a lot of hard work and practice begins now."

Cycling Weekly says Mavis Paterson, from Dumfries and Galloway, in Scotland, is currently the oldest woman to complete the challenge, at the age of 81.

Ms Harris said she was also taking inspiration from 87-year-old Donald Wells, from Hampshire, who completed the challenge in 2018 and 88-year-old Laurence Brophy, from south Wales, two years later.

Louise Firth, director of fundraising and communications at Refuge, said: "We are thrilled to hear about Gina's impressive upcoming journey cycling the length of the UK from the south west to the very north east, we'll be wishing her the best every step of the way."

Faye Connelly, fundraising manager at Women's Aid, said: "We are so grateful to Gina for her incredible support for Women's Aid and we want to say a huge thank you to her for taking on this extraordinary challenge for the charity."

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