A man who works in Bingley is following in the footsteps of Bradford's most famous writer JB Priestley.

For Chris Exley is undertaking an 11-day fundraising journey around the country in aid of Manorlands cancer-care centre in Oxenhope.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Priestley's celebrated book An English Journey for which he travelled around the UK and charted the social history of the time.

And Mr Exley of Wilsden also plans to write about his 2,000-mile journey - which he will do without using motorways - and take photographs along the way to be used in a fundraising calendar.

A stationery administrator at thermalwear company Damart, in Lime Street, Bingley, Mr Exley is celebrating the date with a journey, for which his employer has provided transport and petrol.

He hopes to collect £1,000 as he travels to each of the 24 Damart stores - stretching from Aberdeen to Brighton - and he will be sporting his Damart thermals if he experiences cold weather.

"The inspiration for my road trip came from JB Priestley, who began a journey across the country which eventually became the basis for his book, An English Journey," said Mr Exley.

"I have been involved with Manorlands since they cared for my father more than 20 years ago."

Customer Services Manager Graeme Hall said he was confident Mr Exley would reach his target.

"It's quite a challenge to cover 2,000 miles in 11 days without using the motorways," he said.

"Staff at each of the Damart stores around the country will be tracking Chris's progress.

"I'm sure that he'll receive a lot of support as he travels the country raising funds for such a worthwhile cause."

Manorlands is an 18-bed in-patient cancer-care centre which provides a variety of services including bereavement counselling, a day centre and community specialists who care for cancer patients in their own homes.

This year the centre needs to raise £750,000 to meet its costs.