LEDBURY Rotarian, Jan Long overcome two major fears, one of them caused by a terrorist attack, when she undertook a charity climb over the dome of London's O2 Arena.

Mrs Long, who lives in Bromesberrow, dreaded having to use the London tube to get to the venue, because of the experience she had of being stuck in darkness on a tube train, during an IRA bomb attack, back in the 1980s.

She said: "I was working for the British Council at the time, and there was a bomb attack on the tube system. It was dark and you could hear the other trains moving around you. It was the most frightening experience I've ever had, and I vowed never to use the tube again."

Mrs Long said it felt as though it was hours before her train started to move again, but she believes that in reality it was a shorter period than that.

But because of the charity challenge, and also to generate good news in the face of recent terrorism incidents, Mrs Long decided to overcome her fears and use the tube again, to get to the O2 Arena.

But once there she had to overcome an equally strong fear - of great heights.

She said, after completing the climb over the O2 dome: "It was quite a challenge as I overcame two of my worst fears. The O2 dome is 165 feet high and I was just a bit concerned.

"However having seen the dreadful crippling effects of the polio virus in India during my recent visit to immunise children against polio, I wanted to do raise the awareness of this disease and the need to eradicate it. The total amount is likely to be £3000 which is just astonishing and I'm so grateful to everyone who sponsored me. The funds will go towards Rotary charities at home and abroad."

It is not too late to make a donation. Anyone wanting to support Jan and in turn help the local community can contact her through the Ledbury Rotary club. www.ledburyrotaryweb.org