A fearless fundraiser walking the entire UK and Irish coast to raise £10,000 has smashed his target, reaching an astonishing £51,000.

Alex Ellis-Roswell, who set off from Thanet nearly three years ago, is collecting funds for the RNLI and has so far walked 8,500 gruelling miles with another 1,000 to go.

The 24-year-old hopes to double the amount of cash by the time he returns home to Kent in January.

He says the generosity of strangers and kindness of his supporters is spurring him on and in the last two months alone he has raised an impressive £10,000.

In one bucket he collected almost £3,500, which was handed to the Lerwick and Aith RNLI crews.

As part of his charity walk, he is visiting all 249 lifeboat stations in England, Wales and Scotland, and giving them each a bucket full of money.

Mr Ellis-Roswell, from Bridge, before he set off in 2014, is now heading towards Edinburgh.

"It’s not too bad,” he said. "It’s not the 22 degrees we’ve got back home but it’s a lot warmer than Orkney, where I was a few months back.

"I’ve met some great people and made good friends. There are really great communities up here."

He has a tent but kind strangers have been putting him up in their homes meaning he has had a bed every night recently.

"I’m feeling fine although it’s the same old story with my knees hurting," he added.

"I’m letting my mental focus on finishing override the physical challenges though."

He admits he is surprised with the amount of money he has raised.

"My first target was £10,000 then when I reached that I put it up to £20,000 and then it’s just gone up from there," he said.

"It’s an amazing amount of money especially considering there are so many charities out there and they all need money when nobody has any spare cash.

"People still want to donate as they have a good understanding of what the RNLI is trying to do."

About £20,000 has been raised through online donations and the rest from cash collections.

Mr Roswell-King, who went to Barton Court Grammar School, set off on his 9,500 mile walk from Minnis Bay on August 3, 2014, eight months after his father, Ray – who had dedicated much of his life to charities – died.

To keep up to date with his progress or to donate visit www.facebook.com/alexellisroswell or https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/longwalkround