A DARING Chiddingstone man will take on the mighty task of swimming the Channel in aid of charity.

Jon Yates, 34, of Wellers Town Road, is training to complete the treacherous 22-mile solo swim.

He said: "It's always been in the back of my mind to swim the Channel before I turn 40.

"I had a window of opportunity from work and decided this was the time to do it."

Mr Yates is raising funds for Hospice in the Weald, which looked after his father-in-law.

The avid canoeist and club swimmer for Sevenoaks began his training in May, ploughing up and down Tonbridge pool doing 8km or 12km at a time.

However, the Channel swim calls for a more gruelling training schedule, including coping with water below 16 degrees C.

Over the last couple of months, he has progressed to swimming for six hours off the coast of Dover and now feels more confident about the challenge ahead.

He said: "I've done as much training as I could do but it is a bit of unknown territory.

"The day's getting closer and closer now so I've got to make sure I'm ready."

Depending on the tides, Mr Yates is hoping to make the journey between September 29 and October 8.

To make a donation visit the website www.justgiving.com/ jonswimsthechannel