Daredevil grandad John Paxton always told his family he could abseil and now he has proved it.

The 74-year-old donned hard hat and hiking boots to plunge 150 feet down Provincial House in Bradford yesterday.

And in doing so he raised more than £300 for the Lord Mayor's Appeal, supporting The Prince's Trust and Bradford's Macmillan Appeal.

Spurred on by family and friends, the retired welder from Shipley took just a few minutes to complete the drop.

"It was brilliant, going up the steps to the top of the building was the hardest bit. I would do it again," he said.

He last abseiled as a sprightly 20-year-old when he was serving with the first battalion of East Yorkshire in Austria.

His 25-year-old grandson, Ben Norfolk, who works at AECT Turbines in Yeadon, said: "He goes on about when he was in the army and how he can do it and now he has shown us all."

John's three daughters, who watched from the bottom, said they were proud of his achievement. John decided to abseil to show his appreciation for cancer nurses who cared for his wife, June, who died three years ago.

He was one of around 50 people taking part in the Pledge for the Edge event at the landmark building, organised by a group of students from Leeds Metropolitan University.

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Idle) and his wife Jackie were first to descend and Councillor Keith Thomson (Labour, Wibsey) also had a turn.