A DRIVING instructor from Skipton is to swap four wheels for two when he joins thousands of cyclists on a 100-mile ride to raise cash for a cancer charity.

Andrew Wroot is taking part in the Prudential Ride London on Sunday, July 30, and is well on the way to reaching his target of £2,000 for MEN United, the charity which battles prostate cancer.

The 54-year-old father-of-two is among 25,000 riders who will take on the challenging ride, which mostly follows the route of the cycling road race in the 2012 London Olympics.

Cyclists will start at the London Stadium and ride out through Surrey on traffic-free roads before finishing on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace.

Andrew, of Burnside Crescent, who operates as the Wroot 1 Driving School, was in the Royal Navy for 30 years and served on HMS Hermes in the Falklands War in 1982.

He said: "In 2014, after only 10 months of marriage, my wife Lorraine was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully she is through that but it made me realise how common, insidious and undiscriminating cancer is. My dad Tom Wroot has previously had prostate cancer and now some of my former Royal Navy shipmates are suffering from the same cruel disease.

"Mine is a sedentary job and when I decided to don the lycra back in January I knew it wouldn't be a pretty sight! But I have been riding as much as I can around the long hours of the job.

"I have three goals: to raise money for the charity, to finish under the time limit of eight-and-a-half hours - and be able to dismount the bike unaided without walking like John Wayne!

"Although I like cycling, the thought of 100 miles without stopping for a cream tea is well out of my comfort zone."

Andrew said that his original target had been £1,000, but pledges had already surpassed that and he had decided to push for £2,000.

He has set up a Just Giving Page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Wroot1

Andrew added: "Thanks to everyone who has supported me. Testicular and prostate cancer is more common than you think, it is a real and prevalent danger. To all men, I'd say - get talking and get checked."