A Highgate bowel cancer survivor is cycling 1,000 miles for charity in the hope of raising £100,000 for Bowel & Cancer Research.

Paul Reynolds, who took up cycling after beating the illness in 2009, will ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats in Scotland.

The distance his team of six will cover in 12 days is the same as climbing the height of Mount Everest.

The Bums on Bikes challenge marks the 10th anniversary of his diagnosis with stage 3 bowel cancer, aged 42.

“I was one of the lucky ones,” he said. “I’m only here today because of the significant research and resulting advances in medicine and surgery over the 20 years leading up to my diagnosis. I owe a huge debt to all the scientists responsible and the people who financed them.

The charity’s chief exec Deborah Gilbert thanked the team for the support. “Our mission is to ensure that no one should die of bowel cancer in future and we can only do that with the help of our fantastic fundraisers,” she said.