AN East Morton man is to walk and cycle 3,500 miles along First World War battlefronts from Gallipoli to Belgium, scattering remembrance poppies along the way.

Philip Brotherton, 37, sets out on his three-month solo expedition in less than a month's time and will arrive in Turkey at the time of the official Gallipoli commemoration on April 25.

"I shall start at a village on the Bosphorus called Kumqale and then make my way down to Gallipoli after all the official activity has ended and then I'll be walking, riding and bivouacking all the way," said the qualified mountain leader, who has been unable to work full-time since suffering a brain injury.

He will be carrying a kilogram of paper poppies provided by the British Legion and leaving them at strategic points as he travels over the mountains of Greece and Macedonia, through Serbia, over the mountains of Slovenia and Italy, and then on to France and the Belgian coast.

"It will be very cold in the mountains – about minus ten degrees – but I like snow so I'm not worried about that," he said.

"And a good thing is it means the bears will still be hibernating and I shouldn't be bothered by wolves."

Mr Brotherton, of Otley Road, added: "I'll be leaving a trail of 2,015 poppies as a sign of remembrance to all who died from both sides in the Great War.

"One thousand of the poppies will have the names of children from some of the countries that were involved in the war."

Mr Brotherton said when not able to ride his trusty 20-year-old bike he would have to carry it over the rough terrain he will encounter on his marathon trek.

"I shall be trying my best to get as close to all the frontlines as I possibly can and when I get to Belgium I shall be going along all the trenches," Mr Brotherton said.

Sadly his online appeal for donations to fund his trip, with any surplus monies going to the British Legion, still also has a long way to go.

"I wanted to get 1,000 people to sponsor a poppy each, but so far I only have 38," he said.

"It'll probably mean I am going to have to live off the land, but that's fine as I know what I'm doing."

He is still seeking donations, and people can find out more about the trip and how to give online at trailofpoppies.co.uk.