A MAN terminally ill with cancer is planning a last, brave fundraising mission.

And Vic Cardnell, of Honley, will have to conquer his fear of heights to raise cash for the fight against the disease.

Mr Cardnell, 49, is aiming to raise thousands for the CancerBacup charity with a flight around Britain in a light aircraft.

He will be the aircraft's co-pilot during the four-day flyathon, pencilled in for February.

The flight round the coast of Britain starts and finishes in Blackpool, taking in places like Rochester in Kent and John o' Groats in Scotland.

The father-of-three was originally diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2001.

Mr Cardnell, of Oldfield Road, battled the disease, but was told last April that the disease was incurable.

He said: "Since becoming diagnosed as incurable I no longer had the challenge of fighting the cancer.

"Being a naturally active person I found that after nearly four years of fighting hard, this left a void."

The former Barclays Bank project manager said he decided to channel his efforts into raising money for CancerBacup after the help and support it gave his family.

Mr Cardnell said he came up with the idea of the 2,000-mile flight - named Flight to Fight - during a bout of medication-induced insomnia in October.

He said: "I said to my wife, Shelly, that one thing I'd like to do before I died was to pilot a light aircraft.

"I have always been interested in planes, but my deep-rooted fear of heights always made me shy away from controlling one myself - especially one with me in it!"

He added: "At five in the morning, the idea snowballed, as these things can. I had been impressed by what Jane Tomlinson had done and I thought I'd like to emulate her in some small way."

Mr Cardnell said they were having to be flexible as they needed good weather for the entire trip.

He added: "Our earliest time is pencilled in for the second week of February. If we can get more time it will aid planning enormously.

"On the other hand, my consultants are unable to comment on the likely state of my health towards the end of March, so we are being squeezed from both ends."

Mr Cardnell has been helped out for the trip by local businessmen Richard Butterfield and Alistair Dyson, who have made a plane suitable for the trip available to him and main pilot Leon Opit.

Mr Cardnell added: "The services that CancerBacup provides are unique and must continue to be available. About 80% of its income is from donations and money-raising events, so it needs the public's vital support in order to carry on its vital work.

"CancerBacup helps me enormously and I want to help it flourish. My main objective is to give something back."