A NORTH Tawton man will be racing through three countries in one of the world's toughest rallies — and is the only person from the UK taking part by motorbike.

Chris Cork will be taking on the infamous Dakar Rally — a motor race and orienteering challenge where racers from across the globe speed across deserts in motorcycles, quad bikes, cars and trucks to win a spot on the podium.

Chris, 43, is the only UK private owner to gain entrance to the rally in the motorcycle category and is undertaking the mammoth challenge to raise money for Children's Hospice South West.

He said: 'The Dakar is quite simply the world's greatest and toughest rally event and taking part is equivalent to the competitors climbing Everest. My goal is to simply get to the finish line!

'As a father myself, Children's Hospice South West is the perfect choice of charity for me and I hope that people will get behind and support me in this incredible challenge.'

Next year's Dakar Rally takes place in South America, with competitors racing through Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, and it will be seen by 3.9-million spectators.