AFTER more than 1,000 miles, several punctures and more than a few cold nights in a tent, a cyclist has arrived at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Robert Glen, 25, has completed his sponsored solo ride from Gold Beach, Normandy, to the German capital in aid of the Cyclists Fighting Cancer charity - following in the footsteps of his grandfather, a D-Day veteran.

He was greeted by friends and family just after 2pm on Wednesday, September, 19 and his mission has now raised more than £4,000.

With his grandfather's old hat strapped to the front of his bike, Mr Glen, who lives in Harwell, travelled across France and Germany while his sister found places for him to eat and sleep from home.

Mr Glen had been inspired to do the trip after his grandfather, Raymond Gregory, died in 2017.

Mr Gregory was just 17 on June 6, 1944, when he landed on Gold Beach as part of Dorset regiment.

Over the following months, he fought his way to Berlin to liberate Europe from the Nazis.

The original plan for the trip was scuppered when Mr Glen was knocked off his bike in August last year and the journey became a way of him processing the trauma of the incident.

He said: "The 1,031 mile journey threw a lot of challenges at me.

"From punctures and hills 70 miles into the first day, cold nights in the tent, to forest fires in Germany providing a smoke screen to ride through.

"Overall the journey has been very rewarding and I've met some incredible people with so much generosity on the way.

"The donations have been coming in and, I didn't find out until the finish, we have raised over £4,000 for cyclists fighting cancer.

"The support for the charity alone kept me going through the difficult times to succeeded here in Berlin."

The charity uses specially-adapted bikes and trikes to help cancer patients regain their strength.