A scuba-diver who cycled 500 miles in five days in memory of his father will celebrate completing the ride and smashing his £2,500 fundraising target with a party.

James Wilson biked from Thurso in Scotland, where he has been working with a wreck diving company, to Birstall to raise money for SITraN, a research facility for Translational Neurosci-ence based in Sheffield.

He completed the ride on November 15 and is hosting his ‘FUNdraising Party’ tomorrow night, with hopes of raising even more money.

So far he has collected more than £2,745 after setting a target of £2,500 in memory of Paul Wilson, who died in 2009 from Motor Neurone Disease.

James, 34, said: “I’ve smashed it so far, then there’ll be even more to come on the 29th. It’s awesome.”

Paul Wilson was a West Yorkshire firefighter for 25 years and a keen cyclist who rode in Europe with the Calder Clarion Cycling Club, sometimes taking James with him. “The place in Sheffield that I’m raising money for is where we took him for diagnosis and checks,” James said.

“He used to go off and cycle miles and miles in loads of different countries. I think even at the age he would have been now [67] he’d have been quicker than me.

James was supported on the trip by friend Aaron Frazer who drove a van donated by Northgate Vehicle Hire in Pudsey.

The party night will be at the Oakwell Motel, Low Lane, Birstall, from 7pm tomorrow.

James can be sponsored at justgiving.com/James Wilson-1978.