Four-year-old Joe Appleford displayed early stamina when he completed a 14.5-mile charity cycle ride through Oxfordshire.

The sports-mad toddler from Wootton, near Woodstock, completed the mammoth distance as part of a 7.5-hour sponsored bike ride from Woodstock to Oxford, calling in on 19 historic churches along the way.

The Wootton Primary School pupil has amazed fitness experts with the ride on a bike fitted with stabilisers during the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Ride and Stride event on Saturday.

Joe's mother Anna Appleford, 37, who accompanied him on the ride, said: "People keep coming up to us and asking if it’s true. People in the village are just completely amazed.

"They're just flabbergasted he managed to go so far.

"He's just got so much energy. He loves doing any sort of sport and he turns the pedals pretty quickly."

The youngster's journey saw him go from 10am until 5.30pm, cycling from Woodstock through Begbroke, Kidlington, Wolvercote, Summertown and finally St Giles, in Oxford.

The pair stopped for a 20-minute lunch break at Oxford Airport, but Mrs Appleford said her son refused to take breaks when she called for him to stop.

Joe, who has been cycling since he was two, followed in the tyre tracks of his dad, Peter, 41, who last year rode nearly 100 miles, visiting 86 churches.

Mrs Appleford, from Castle Road, said: "Joe wouldn't stop. He wouldn't even take a break. He was determined to beat his dad.

"He said 'we have got to keep cycling to beat daddy'.

"He's an extraordinarily determined little chap. He's just got boundless energy.

"I thought we'd be lucky to get to Kidlington, but he just kept going."

The youngster, who started school on Wednesday, raised about £150 for Wootton Church and the Historic Churches Trust.

Mrs Appleford added: "I think we'll aim to beat this next year. If he wants to take part in it, we were very close to the centre of Oxford and could have done another 10 churches.

"He just didn't look tired afterwards either. When we got him home, he just asked to play cricket."

Personal trainer Iain Grey, a fully qualified fitness coach, said: "This is a phenomenal achievement.

"For a four-year-old to have the leg endurance to accomplish that when his muscles aren't fully developed is phenomenal.

"A lot of adults would struggle to make that distance."

Child health expert Paul Sacher, a paedriatric dietician at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: "I've never heard of anything like this. It sounds unique and quite an achievement."

Joe's efforts mirror those of Budhia Singh, the three-year-old Indian boy who could run 30 miles in a day.