A RETIRED Edenbridge couple are preparing for a 191-mile charity walk they have been planning for five years.

Brian and Eve Spear are due to set off on a route that links the Irish Sea to the North Sea, from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay near Whitby, on Monday.

The walk is to celebrate Eve's 60th birthday and Brian's retirement from Edenbridge Medical Practice, where he worked as a doctor for 30 years.

Dr Spear, 61, said: "We have always wanted to do a walk and we have been planning it a long time. We are very much excited."

The couple, who have been married 38 years, will navigate themselves, and hope to complete the journey in 16 days to raise £3,000.

"It will be hard work but we're doing it for a highly-respected local charity," he added.

So far the couple have raised £1,760 for The Blond McIndoe Research Foundation, the legacy of plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe. It is a centre of excellence in the field of wound healing with a particular focus on the treatment of serious burns and children's scalds.