The Swindon Team from the UK Research and Innovation department is taking on a marathon walk from Swindon to Oxford.

The 26 mile walk will be completed by Roy Stephen, Dr Jennifer Pickett and Dr Amber Vater on Tuesday.

Alongside the walk, the trio are in the Swindon team taking part in the Virgin Walking Challenge.

It was launched in May with teams of seven participating all around the globe - 32,549 of them worldwide with 6,586 from the UK alone.

UKRI’s Swindon team has already walked 3,237 miles during the last 76 days and the members are currently preparing to climb Snowdonia on August 23.

One of them, Chris Carlton, said: “I’m a bit nervous, but I’m excited for the challenge.

“I’ve never done anything like this before so the Walking Challenge has inspired me to really test my limits.”

He said the walkers had been training for their epic effort.

“We’ve been doing regular lunchtime walks to prepare, and some people have been taking a couple of days off to do some longer walks that have up and down sections in order to make sure that we’re fully ready to go.”

Throughout the challenge, the team has explored the Wiltshire and Gloucestershire countryside and tackled different terrain.

Members set themselves a variety of daily and weekly challenges and they have been encouraging over staff to join them in any and all activities.