A MOTORIST who drove thousands of miles through Europe in an ‘old banger’ has handed a fundraising cheque over to a cause close to his heart.

Paul Wojcik, from Barrow, joined an epic motorist event in September which saw him and dozens others drive from Dover to Gibraltar in their ‘old bangers’ as part of the Veterans Banger Rally.

The 64-year-old had originally planned on taking on the cross-country trek last year, however, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the event to be held in the UK.

Paul and his son Joseph drove their renovated 1993 Rover Metro from Stafford onto Llandudno, Torquay, Skegness, Newcastle, Blackpool before finishing in Runcorn for prizegiving in last year’s event.

A year later the Ulverston Inshore Rescue volunteer decided to finally take on the original rally route, driving from England to Gibraltar.

Paul, who joined the merchant navy when he left school, successfully drove his 2003 Citroen Berlingo alongside 45 other cars of all shapes and sizes to Gibraltar and back.

From Paul’s home in Barrow to Gibraltar is an epic 3,552 round trip, stopping off in Calais, Le Mans, Pau, Valencia and Malaga along the way.

READ MORE: Determined driver arrives in Gibraltar after epic trek from Barrow

Paul took on the trek to raise money for Ostley House Dementia Unit in Barrow, who cared for his mam in her final few years, and also SAFA.

He raised a whopping £1,135 for Ostley House and £100 for SAFA which he delivered to the charities this week.

He said: “A massive thank you to everyone who has donated, supported and followed my journey from Barrow in Furness to Gibraltar and back in a vehicle costing less than £500

“A massive thanks to Paul & Team at Little Tony's Tyres for the Cross Climate Falken Tyres and lots of help in sorting my van out for the journey.

“With a total of 4,000 miles covered, the journey with the other 42 Armed Forces Serving and Veterans Teams was amazing to say the least.

“The places I visited were fantastic but I must admit about 200 hundred of these miles were wrong turns but it all adds to the adventure.

“Once again thanks for all the donations it was an amazing adventure and hope you have all enjoyed my blogs and the photos.

“If any veterans or serving members of the Armed Forces want to participate in the 2023 Rally please message me it’s great fun.”

The daring motorist is already planning his next epic journey, where he hopes to drive through eight countries in Europe next year.