The difference between mad dogs and Englishmen?

On Wednesday Lloyd Scott, 42, will begin the 2,700-mile journey from Perth across the Outback to Sydney.

Wearing tweeds, a deerstalker hat and a fake moustache, the man from Rainham in Essex, expects it to take six weeks.

The journey across mountain ranges and desert plains aims to raise £1.5m for the charity Children With Leukaemia.

Mr Scott, a father of three who had the disease himself in the 1980s, will only be able to cycle between 10 and 15 miles per hour and will face temperatures of up to 40C (104F).

Other hazards include the Australian wildlife and the "roadtrains" - huge lorries which hurtle along roads in the Outback.