A blind ex-serviceman who battled a brain tumour and two bouts of meningitis is set to tackle a 100km ultra-challenge.

Iraq War veteran Darren Blanks, from Egremont, hopes to walk from London to Brighton in 15 hours this weekend for Blind Veterans UK.

The national charity, for vision-impaired ex-service men and women, has supported Darren since 2011.

Darren said: "I completed the 100k from London to Brighton in 25 hours in 2014, but I blame sitting in the pub for too long. I want to get a faster time this year and reckon I can do the 100k in under 15 hours.

The 30-year-old, who signed up for the army at 16 in 2003, did two tours of Iraq in 2005 and 2007 and was discharged in March 2008.

Aged just 23, he lost his sight to an inherited eye condition - Leber's optic neuropathy - as well as being diagnosed with a benign brain tumour and meningitis, which caused some hearing loss.

Father-of-two Darren, who served in the King's Royal Hussars, said: "I had to leave two jobs - at the Iceland supermarket and working as a postman, and I was in hospital for four months with the brain tumour.

Since losing his sight, he has completed both the London Marathon and Brighton Half Marathon and will attempt the Cardiff Half Marathon.

He said: "Blind Veterans UK has given me the independence and confidence to carry on life after sight loss.

"I've always wanted to run the London Marathon and they’ve helped me with that, and last year I went skiing for the first time with the charity."

Darren has previously completed the Great Cumbrian Run and was an Olympic torchbearer for Egremont ahead of the 2012 London Games.

The London to Brighton 100k challenge is Blind Veterans UK’s biggest annual fundraiser and takes participants from south west London to the charity's centre in Ovingdean, Brighton.

To support Darren, visit: justgiving.com/darren-blanks5