A MET policeman rode 900 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats on a handcycle dressed as a gorilla.

Detective Sergeant Tom Harrison, who studied at the Royal Grammar School Worcester and originates from Malvern, raised over £2,600 for The Gorilla Organisation during his three-week expedition.

During a trip to Uganda and Rwanda two years ago, the 41-year-old saw first-hand the projects undertaken by the organisation to help preserve the dwindling numbers of gorillas.

“It was hard work, it’s not the normal way I would get around," he said.

“Just using your arms, on a bike twice as heavy as a normal racing bike, with all the hills, is tough - but I only had two choices: quit or carry on.”

Averaging around 50 miles per day, Mr Harrison, also known as Mr Gorilla, said he got the bike around a month before the challenge began in early April and had had limited training.

He had only ridden around 20 miles in one session before setting off, admitting he wasn’t prepared for how gruelling it would be.

“I hadn’t really done enough but I think taking on something totally different, you’d have to train for about six months, which I didn’t have the time to do.

“There were never any easy days, as I had to just get the miles in, but some days I’d stop for longer to speak to people and undertake media commitments.”

In all, he suffered nine punctures, three snapped gear cables and two snapped brake cables.

One particularly difficult day was in Exeter with it “tipping down with rain” and the brakes and gear cables had snapped.

“I was in a B&B hanging up my stuff, which was soaked through, just thinking: what am I doing here?”

The loneliness was tough said Mr Harrison, who found it tough to be away from his two sons, Nicholas, seven, and Alex, five, who were back home in Amersham.

However, he did meet plenty of support on the way, including an 85-year-old man who had tracked him towards north Inverness to give him a bag of homemade fudge.

Last year, he crawled the London Marathon in the same suit.