Training while dressed from head to toe in riot squad gear, Pc Martin Waite is used to a gruelling challenge.

But now the 47-year-old has decided to take part in the Great North Run half marathon on Sunday, October 5, wearing all his kit including helmet and shield, for charity.

Pc Waite, based with the public order unit at Upper Heyford, will be carrying an extra two stone in weight.

And he has already phoned race organisers to warn them not to be surprised when they see a man charging along the Gateshead streets in riot gear.

He said: "I want to raise as much money as possible and if I did it in just shorts and T-shirts I wouldn't.

"I wanted the challenge of something different, and running the Great North Run is the equivalent of running 43 of our training runs one after another.

"We train a whole morning in our public order gear and by the end of the session most of us are blowing. I appreciate how hard it will be.

"The real struggle is the heat. The helmet is tight and the sweat pours in your eyes and trickles down your back. But it's a small price to pay."

His inspiration to undertake the gruelling run was the death of his mother Jean, 60, and the birth of grandson Kyle.

More than £1,300 has already been donated for cancer charity, Children with Leukaemia.

He will run alongside son Lee, 26, who has chosen to wear more conventional shorts and T-shirt.

The father-of-two fought in the Falklands War with the Welsh Guards and lost a number friends — including four guards of honour from his wedding — during the sinking of the Sir Galahad warship.

He joined Thames Valley Police seven years ago and is deployed on a range of dangerous jobs such as tackling severe public disorder, riots and drug raids.

He added: "I lost my mother to cancer seven years ago and want to do something for a cancer charity. I chose Children with Leukaemia because although my mother died of cancer she had a full life.

"I could not imagine losing a child and now I am a granddad I could not imagine life without my grandson. I hope to raise awareness and more than £1,000."

People can sponsor Pc Waite by visiting the website bmycharity.com/shieldrun