NORTHERN Echo reporter Chris Webber has set off on a 450-mile walk in support of a campaign to mark the mass grave of the victims of a pit disaster.

Mr Webber will walk from the site of Britain's oldest mine, at Cissbury Ring, near Brighton, to Stanley, County Durham, to raise funds for the newspaper's campaign to mark the resting place of victims of the Stanley Burns Colliery tragedy.

Mr Webber, who has written extensively about the campaign, said: "I am very committed to seeing the graves properly remembered. The money has to be raised somehow and the walk was one way I could think of doing it.

"I'm not that fit and I've never done anything like this before, so I'm sure I'll be sleeping like a log every night for the next month."

A last-minute boost came from Frances Simpson, from New Zealand, who pledged £200 in memory of three members of her family who died in the disaster.

Her donation, along with all the money Mr Webber raises, will go to the Stanley Burns Pit Disaster Memorial Appeal. It is hoped a graveside memorial will be installed at the site of two burial trenches containing the 54 men and boys who died in the 1909 explosion.

It is hoped the memorial will be in place in time for the anniversary of the disaster, in February next year.

Mr Webber hopes to arrive at the Durham Miners Gala on Saturday, July 10, before going on to Stanley the following day.

To pledge money for the walk, call (01642) 675678 during office hours.

Read more about the Stanley Pit Memorial campaign here.