A MAN dressed as Santa has spent the last two weeks walking around the Cotswolds to raise money for four charities.

John Dodd, aged 66, started the walk on December 6 in Aylesbury and since then he has enjoyed free hospitality from a number of guest houses along the way.

Christmas in the Cotswolds is Mr Dodd’s seventh walk this year and has taken him through Upper Swell and Bourton as well as Cheltenham, Gloucester and Cirencester.

He reached his final destination - Oxford - on Tuesday, December 20 having walked a total of 200 miles.

Mr Dodd, who lives in London, is going to donate the money to charities Dreams Come True, Lucy Air Ambulance, Blue Cross and Cotswold Care Hospice.

He said: “I regard the Cotswolds as the Crème de la Crème of England as it has such beautiful villages in it. I’ve raised about £3,500 so far this year.

“I’ve got six walks planned for next year, six for the year after and five after that. I plan my last walk to be on my 80th birthday.”

Among the walks he has completed this year, was a 460-mile walk from London to Scotland and next year he is planning to walk his longest walk yet - 600 miles from London to the Hebrides in a kilt to celebrate Sir Christopher Lee’s 90th birthday.