FRIENDS and neighbours breathed a sigh of relief when Tony Hobbs returned to Dilwyn all in one piece following one of his 'escapades'.

Accident-prone Tony, 64, failed to get as much as an insect bite when he ran 80 miles around Herefordshire to raise funds for Leominster Folk Museum.

This is a man who fell off his bike and broke an arm in two places during a charity cycle ride across India; the man who slipped on a log on North Herefordshire's Mortimer Trail and broke the funny bone of his left arm; the man who had to quit a charity trek on Offa's Dyke because of severely inflamed insteps. (Even that put him out of action for a month).

Worries

"When I set off I think quite a few people in Dilwyn must have said 'Oh my God, what's he going to do this time?'" said Tony.

"But the run went very well. I had a back-up team, did it in stretches and slept in my own bed every night."

Tony, who was raising cash to help the Leominster Museum buy 12 paintings by 19th century Leominster artist, John Scarlett Davis, started off from the Etnam Street museum.

He did a four-day run via Bromyard, Ledbury, Ross, Hereford, Weobley and Kington and back home to Dilwyn.

On route Tony delivered greetings messages from Leominster Museum curator, Lyn Moult, to museums and heritage centres around the county. Sponsorship money for Tony's tour is now rolling in. With grants in hand, Leominster Museum is now close to raising the £3,000 it needs for the Scarlett Davis pictures.