AS a child, Brian Walker watched his father carry a door four miles from a builders' merchants to the house he was working on.

Now, more than 25 years later, the builder hopes to stroll into the record books by walking 860 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats with a door on his back.

His wife, Nicky, who he married in December, has shelved her initial objections and will accompany him by car for the first and last week of the walk.

Mr Walker, 30, of Gosforth, Newcastle, sets off from Land's End on June 22, and is hoping to raise thousands of pounds for cancer charity Macmillan Nurses.

He announced his bizarre charity idea last September, and has since secured sponsorship to the tune of £5,000 from the Rohden Door Company.

He and his friends came up with the idea over a few pints in the pub.

He said: "I saw my dad carrying a door to a job once when I was small, so I think that's where the idea came from.

"It's going to be hard work and very hard on my joints, but I'm determined to go through with it."

He admitted that his wife, who is expecting their first child in December, had initially slammed the idea but was now opening up to it.

He said: "When she realised I was serious about it, she got behind me."

Completing the five-week walk will see Mr Walker's name entered into the Guinness Book of World Records, but he described the fame as "a bonus", insisting the real glory lay in completing the challenge.

During the walk, he will stop at B&Bs along the way and a friend will follow him in a support vehicle.

As a keen cyclist, he has a high level of fitness, but has added a number of long hikes and weightlifting sessions to his training schedule.