A MUSICIAN who set about on an epic 3,000 mile journey in a vintage car has raise more than £10,000.

Andy McKay, 66, of Carlisle, has smashed his original fundraising target for Pancreatic Cancer Action, despite only being able to complete half his adventure.

His 1920s Morris Cowley, Happy Henry, suffered a breakdown near Exeter, 1,400 miles into his tour of Britain.

Nevertheless he's looking forward to completing the trip next year and will continue to raise money to fund vital research into pancreatic cancer. It is the UK’s 5th biggest cancer killer, which has the lowest survival rate - just five per cent - of any cancers.

Andy set off in July, raising awareness across the country, and it all paid off as he managed to hit his original target before the end of November which was Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

He said: "Although the drive was unfortunately cut short, I’m absolutely thrilled that we have topped the £10, 000 target and would like to thank all the wonderful people who have helped to make it possible.

"There are too many to thank individually but to all those who have helped in some way or have donated. Thank you so much.

“Equally important are the amount of opportunities to raise awareness that the project has created all around the UK.

“I will never know but, perhaps, our efforts have helped or will help in some way to save a life."

Andy lost his wife Lyn to the disease in 2013, when he says his awareness was "practically zero.”

Pancreatic Cancer Action is committed to working towards earlier diagnosis of the disease so that surgery, currently the only cure, is made available to the sufferer.

The charity fund research into early diagnosis, provide medical education programmes, and launch awareness campaigns.

Ali Stunt, founder of Pancreatic Cancer Action, said: “We are so delighted that Andy has given so much of his time to support Pancreatic Cancer Action in this amazing challenge.

"We were very sorry to hear about Andy’s wife Lyn, it is such a lovely way to honour her memory.

"We rely solely on donations from the public and thanks to people like Andy that we can continue our vital work. We are absolutely thrilled that Andy has raised such a fantastic amount, he has put so much hard work into his challenge.”