INSPIRATIONAL landmine victim Chris Moon was in the Colne Valley as part of a charity walk from John o'Groats to Land's End.

Mr Moon, 41, from Basingstoke, had his lower right leg and arm blown off by a landmine while serving as an Army officer in Mozambique in 1995.

The dad-of-two, who has a prosthetic leg fitted, hopes his epic journey will raise £1m for the Leonard Cheshire charity, which runs care homes and helps disabled people live independently.

Mr Moon said: "I have never forgotten what it was like to be very healthy one minute then not the next.

"It gave me an indication of what it is like for people who are severely disabled and I wanted to do something. It is very easy to look the other way."

To achieve his aim, Mr Moon has taken a longer route from John o'Groats to Land's End so he can visit more towns. His 1,284 mile journey began on June 5 and he is walking an amazing 52 miles - two marathons each day - to complete it by June 29.

His efforts have raised £200,000 so far.

Yesterday, Mr Moon set off from Dewsbury at 4am and walked through Huddersfield, Slaithwaite and Marsden and on to Macclesfield.

He stopped for a break in Slaithwaite and was presented with £250 from Colne Valley Lions.

And in Marsden he droped into the junior school to talk to pupils about his experiences.

Mr Moon was met by staff and two residents from the White Windows Cheshire home at Sowerby Bridge, who walked 10 miles with Mr Moon from Slaithwaite to Delph, raising £400.

He is being supported by RAF personnel during his trek, but on the Dewsbury to Macclesfield stretch he was supported by Army Royal Engineers soldiers attached to 10th Squadron at RAF Leeming.

Mr Moon - who is battling a stomch bug and leg infection - said: "I have got a fantastic team supporting me.

"It's going well. There's obviously going to be some problems but it is important for me to keep going."

Mr Moon makes his living by giving motivational speeches.

And he has much to speak about.

He completed the London Marathon in 1996 and in 1997, became the first leg amputee to complete the 250km Great Sahara Run.

He has scaled Mount Kilamanjaro in Tanzania and the 100km high Kumamoto volcano in Japan.

For more details, visit www.onewalk.org.uk, email info@ onewalk.org.uk or call 08444 41 11 11.

* Landmines kill and maim 26,000 people a year. Of these, 8,000 are children.

* Roughly 3 people every hour, 71 per day are injured or killed by landmines.

* There are estimated to be somewhere between 60-100 million landmines in the ground worldwide. This remains a rough estimate since few accurate records were kept when mines were deployed.

* It costs £6 to £54 to buy an anti-personnel landmine. To remove a single mine could cost as much as £1,800.

* Landmines prevent development and the cultivation of land in some of the poorest countries.

* The Ottawa Convention on the prohibition and destruction of landmines has been signed by 136 nations. Some 50 countries have not yet signed the treaty.