A reporter is looking for sponsorship for a 450-mile walk to raise funds for an campaign organised by The Northern Echo.

Echo man Chris Webber plans to walk from the site of Britain's oldest mine at Cissbury Ring, near Brighton, to Stanley, County Durham.

Any money raised will go to the Stanley Burns Pit Disaster Memorial Appeal.

It is hoped that a graveside memorial will be installed at the site of two mass burial trenches where 54 men and boys lie who died in the 1909 explosion.

A committee has been established in Stanley for the appeal and design and final costings are being considered.

A total of £3,500 has been raised by The Northern Echo and St Andrew's Parochial Church Council, in Stanley. It is hoped to put the memorial in place in time for the anniversary of the disaster in February.

Mr Webber will begin his walk on Saturday, June 12, and hopes to arrive at the Durham Miners Gala on Saturday, July 10, before going on to Stanley the following day.

He said: "I've never done anything like this before. It's a bit scary but I'm looking forward to it and have been on a long overdue fitness regime.

"The only disappointing thing is that I will have to cut back on parts of the walk through London and up to Cambridge because of time constraints.

"However, from Cambridge I will be able to walk every step of the way to Stanley."

Two memorials exist to the 168 men and boys who died in the explosion, but the graves of the 54 buried in the mass burial trenches, on council land behind St Andrew's Church in Stanley, have never been marked.

To pledge money for the walk, call (01642) 675678 during office hours.

Read more about the Stanley Pit Memorial here.