A 67-YEAR-OLD vicar is cycling 750 miles through France, to raise money for his parish churches.

Rev John Noddings, who is responsible for four parishes - Great Coxwell, Buscot, Coleshill and Eaton Hastings - near Wantage, is cycling from Dieppe, in Normandy, to Cannes, on the south coast.

Greeting him there will be his wife Mary and his brother-in-law, Lawrence Hughes.

Mrs Noddings said: "He enjoys cycling, but he knows this is a very taxing journey and has been training hard for it.

"The first few days he hit bad weather, but he kept on going despite being very wet. He's hoping for better weather the further south he gets.

"He has cycled through France before, but not for sponsorship.

"We go on holiday in France regularly and we love the country, which is why he wanted to do this marathon ride there."

Mr Noddings hopes to raise the profile of his parishes as well as money for works in the churches.

He has already raised £3,000 in sponsorship and money is still coming in.

The cash will help replace the heaters at Great Coxwell, repair the organ at Eaton Hastings, and provide a loop system for the hard of hearing at Coleshill.

Mr Hughes said Mr Noddings' route was via Chartres, Nevers and St Etienne and, probably, through Avignon and along the coast road to Cannes.

He said: "We'll go out to meet him a couple of days beforehand to make sure he has everything he needs and to make sure he has a thoroughly good rest to recover.

"He's a remarkable man to tackle a 750-mile cycle ride and we are all praying he is just fine at the end of it."

Mr Noddings has been in the parishes for five years, after 15 years at Enfield, in London.