A SERVICEMAN who was severely injured while serving in Iraq will be cycling 350 miles in seven days to raise funds for Help for Heroes.

Major Peter Norton GC, who is a serving officer in the Royal Logistic Corps, lost his left leg, left arm and sustained other life-threatening injuries in an roadside bomb blast in Baghdad in 2005.

The 49-year-old, who is based at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, will be cycling with a hand bike from Portsmouth to Dunkirk as part of the Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride.

“I will attempt to cycle, using my one good arm and my left stump, a total distance of about 350 miles in seven days,” he said.

“After sustaining my injuries, there followed two years of hospitalisation and rehabilitation before I was able to return to a normal life. I know from experience how important the work of Help for Heroes is.”

Peter, who sets off this Sunday, is currently employed as one of the directing staff in the college of management and technology at the Academy.

Peter, who is a hero patron of Help for Heroes, was leading a team from his unit in July 2005 when he was injured.

The ride will set off from HMS Victory, in Portsmouth, and the participants will cycle through significant First and Second World war battle sites in the Somme, before arriving in Dunkirk in France.

To sponsor Peter, who has raised more than £8,545 with the bike ride so far, visit www.justgiving.com/Peter-Norton-GC