WHILE many husbands were given slippers and a sweater for Christmas, Mark Elliott received a present with a difference.

Kathleen Elliott decided the perfect gift for 52-year-old Mark was a gruelling one-and-a-half mile swim from the world’s most notorious prison.

Mr Elliott, from Barnard Castle, will swim from Alcatraz Island to the San Francisco shoreline, negotiating dangerous currents, freezing water, sharks and sea lions.

Many prisoners at Alcatraz, which is now a tourist attraction, tried and failed to break free by swimming to the mainland.

Mr Elliott plans to do the challenge in August or September. He will swim with a safety boat accompanying him.

He regularly competes in triathlons and iron man contests, and says he is looking forward to the swim.

“Alcatraz was built there to stop prisoners escaping, so it is not going to be easy,” he said.

“I was absolutely over the moon when I found out what it was and I can’t wait now.”

Last May, Mr Elliott, who owns the Galgate Service Station, in Barnard Castle, took part in the BBC show Wipeout with his son Jonny.

Mrs Elliott said of the £260 gift: “I knew it was something that Mark would like. I am not worried about his safety at all, he is fit and a very strong swimmer.”