CHARITY fundraiser Richard Pantlin, who is attempting to cycle across Zimbabwe dressed as a clown to raise money to build an orphanage in the country, has hit his first spot of trouble.

An attempt was made to arrest a member of the entourage accompanying him on the ride.

The father of three, of Hurst Street, East Oxford, intends to hand a postcard, bought on his only previous visit to the country in 1987, to its president Robert Mugabe, as a symbol of how the nation has deteriorated. At present, it is unclear how he would get an audience with the president.

Mr Pantlin is being accompanied by two off-duty Zimbabwean police officers and fellow fundraiser, Zimbabwean-born Asher Mupasi, who now lives in Stoke-on-Trent.

But in an email to the Oxford Mail, he said the group had encountered problems three days into their trip.

According to Mr Pantlin, a police officer tried to arrest a member of his group when they went to shops in the town of Zvishavane.

Mr Pantlin said he was tipping his hat to children while group member Taffy took photographs.

He added: “People were amused and interested, but one man smelling strongly of alcohol started aggressively asking in Shona, the local language, why we were taking photographs.

“It turned out he was a police officer and he wanted to arrest the local team member. We had to accompany him to the local police station.

“The local man Taffy argued we had not broken any law and he should be charged properly with a particular offence if we had to go to the station.

“The debate became heated and at that moment another man appeared outside the station.

“He was a police sergeant who very calmly ascertained the facts of the situation, calmed down his drunken colleague and reasserted the rule of law, so we were free to go.”

Earlier in the day, there was a rally in the town for the Movement for Democratic Change, which was the opposition party, before it entered a coalition government.

Mr Pantlin added: “Emotions might have been raised in the town because of the rally.

“I was confident throughout the situation would be resolved, but had started getting worried in the growing crowd as the light was starting to fade and there were no street lights.”

Mr Pantlin hopes to raise £12,000 for the Health Education and Learning Programme (Help), which is building the orphanage.