It’s a tale of one man and his ferret as an Ipswich serviceman who lost his mother at the start of March prepares for a 73-mile walk.

Charlie Hammerton hopes to collect thousands of pounds for St Elizabeth Hospice and raise awareness of the disease that killed his mum by walking along Hadrian’s Wall.

His pet ferret Bandit will join him on his quest to become the fastest pair to complete the feat next month.

The 22-year-old’s mum, Jan Hammerton, died at the hospice in Foxhall Road on March 2 a long battle with motor neurone disease.

The RAF airman said: “While this might seem a slightly crazy thing to do it’s good to be able to throw myself into planning the hike and doing something positive to benefit two great charities.

“It’s not a bad challenge for a seasoned walker at more than 80 miles long, but it’s going to be extra hard to complete with a hiking partner who is just six inches tall and sharing a tent is no fun as while he sleeps like a log, Bandit also stinks like only a happy healthy ferret can.”

Charlie starts the walk in Newcastle on April 10, just days after his mum’s funeral.

He hopes to finish some 20 miles west of Carlisle on April 13.

“I’m aiming to be the fastest man and ferret to walk the entire path,” he added.

“Bandit is good company and goes most places with me but his conversation is limited so it would be great to meet up with any locals along the way for just a few miles of this expedition.

“I wanted to raise funds for both St Elizabeth Hospice and the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association.

“The hospice was brilliant with my mum and I also want to support the work the MND Association does to make sure that no one has to go through what mum did in the future, so I’ll be splitting any sponsorship two ways and hope to raise around £1000 in total.”

Keep up to date with Charlie and Bandit’s adventures via their Facebook page here.