A ROSSENDALE man and his famous yellow scooter have just returned from a mammoth 11-mile challenge across some of the toughest terrain in Scotland.

Geoff West, who suffers from arthritis and can't walk more than 10 yards without feeling pain, took on part of the gruelling Caledonian Challenge, a 52-mile event stretching from Fort William to the banks of Loch Lomond.

The course is tackled every year by thousands of runners who make their way over the picturesque mountains on tracks and paths in just 24 hours.

But it was the disabled event which tempted the 68-year-old from Loveclough.

And he said today it was an unbelievable challenge.

He said: "I read about it in a magazine and thought count me in.

"I really wanted to do the whole thing but I couldn't because there were a lot of stiles and fences.

"My scooter does a lot of things but unfortunately it can't jump fences."

"They found me a section in the middle that was suitable but it was horrendous.

"The first bit wasn't too bad but as we got up to about 500 feet the path had been washed away by the streams in the winter and it had ben filled in with little stones.

"At one stage we were on a three-foot wide path, we had a granite wall on one side and a sheer drop of about 400 feet on the other."

Geoff was joined by 29 other scooter-riders.

And he admitted the event took its toll.

He added: "By the end I was absolutely shattered but I was elated.

"It took us about five hours but it was really tough going."

These kind of challenges are nothing new for Geoff who is listed in the Guinness Book Of Records for travelling further on his scooter than many able-bodied people manage in a year.

Included among his jaunts are a trip from Land's End to John O'Groats, a charity drive up Mount Snowdon and travelling the circumference of the British Isles with disabled friends.

Geoff, who started his working life as a Lancashire-based long distance lorry driver, began making his excursions at about the same time he started using his scooter with the Disabled Ramblers Association.

And there are no thoughts of taking it easy for the foreseeable future.

He revealed his next project was a trip across Dartmoor next month.