An environmental campaigner is preparing to cycle from Carlisle to Paris to lobby world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference.

Helen Davison, 48, will set off from the city on Sunday NOV 29 and expects to arrive in the French capital 11 days later, on December 10.

She intends to cycle the whole of the route, 585 miles, except for the Channel crossing between Newhaven and Dieppe.

Dr Davison said: “This is a huge physical challenge for me.

“I usually just cycle around Carlisle, so cycling on average 55 miles per day – and up to 70 miles in a day – especially in December when days are short and the weather is bad, takes cycling to a whole different level.

“But the implications of our governments not tackling climate change are too important for me to stand by and say nothing.

“Climate change is the greatest threat to global public health and not tackling it will lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths globally.”

She is a former specialist registrar in public health for the NHS, who stood for the Green Party in Carlisle at the General Election in May.

She will take messages from local people to present to the COP21 conference delegates.

Dr Davison is joining five cyclists who will set off from Edinburgh and they will join a larger group starting from London. Their aim is to raise awareness about the potentially devastating impacts of climate change.

The recent terrorist attacks have made her even more determined to complete the trip.

She said: “The horrific events in Paris make it all the more important to go there to stand in solidarity with people already being affected by the climate change and to call for a fairer, more peaceful, world.”

“I am cycling for peace and climate justice.”

Other Cumbrian environmental campaigners are travelling by train to Paris for COP21.

They include Hazel and Stephen Graham from Brampton, who recently took supplies for refugees stranded in Calais.

Mrs Graham said: “We suspect that an agreement isn’t going to be reached to prevent irreversible climate change. As a mother, I feel I have to do something about that.”

Supporters are invited to join Dr Davison and the other cyclists on Sunday for the first leg of the journey to Penrith, or for the second stage on Monday from Penrith to Lancaster.

For more information or to send messages to the politicians at COP21, email Dr Davison at carlisle2 paris@gmail.com.

As part of the run-up to COP21, Cumbria Action for Sustainability is hosting a screening of the film This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs Climate, at 6.30pm today at Fusehill Street Campus in Carlisle. Places are free but must be pre-booked at www.cafs.org.uk/events/tce .