A man whose grandson died during heart surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital is biking 3,500 miles across Europe to boost funds for the children's hospital.

Steve Chinnock, 42, and about 10 friends will be touring through parts of France, Switzerland and Italy on their motorbikes at the end of May.

They aim to raise about £3,000 towards the £15m appeal for the specialist hospital.

They are taking up the seven-day challenge in memory of Jaidon Vines, who lost his battle against a congenital heart disease just before his first birthday.

The little boy the son of Mr Chinnock's daughter Shara, 21 was born with pulmonary atresia, a condition where there is no pulmonary valve in the heart, preventing blood being pumped into the lungs to collect oxygen.

Mr Chinnock, whose family lives in Swindon, said: "He had his first operation when he was three days old and that was successful.

"He went in for his second operation just before his birthday.

"It was heart-breaking for the whole family.

"The JR is a specialist cardiac centre, which is why Jaiden was treated there.

"We wanted to continue raising money for the children's wards and this year decided to help with the children's hospital campaign."

Together with his friends, and a support van donated by George White's Superbikes, Mr Chinnock has already raised £3,000 for the Headington hospital through a similar motorbike trip across Europe last year.

He said: "It's a great experience just spending time out on your motorbike, but it's not easy.

"I wanted to do something to raise money anyway, so we struck up the idea of doing it this way."

The group will leave the UK on Friday, May 26, and arrive back in time for a welcome home fundraising party a week later.