Officer swaps beat for beacons

Martin Rathbone has been training for months

A Gwent Police officer has given up pounding the beat for two weeks to walk up and down Penyfan in the Brecon Beacons in mid Wales.

Detective Constable Martin Rathbone is raising money for the Search and Rescue Dogs Association of South Wales.

By the time he has completed the sponsored feat he will have scaled the equivalent of Mount Everest in the Himalayas.

"I've been training for this event since last August," he said.

The 32-year-old who is based at Blackwood police station started his walk on Saturday morning.

"Some days I will be going up and down Penyfan twice to ensure I can complete it within the two week limit," he said before starting his journey.

"SARDA currently has five dogs on the call out list and at present there are 15 dogs in training.

"It takes three years to train a dog and about £5000 a year to keep each one so I hope my efforts will contribute to this worthy cause."

He is is being backed in his task by world famous Everest climber Sir Chris Bonington CBE.