A young man whose muscles are wasting away is walking around the coast of Great Britain.

If he succeeds, Barney Lee, aged 20 from Derby, will be the youngest person to walk round the entire coast of mainline Great Britain.

Mr Lee set off from Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire in August and arrived in West Bay earlier this month (Thursday, October 10) before heading off to Seaton.

He is raising awareness of his degenerative nerve and muscular condition, called HNPP (Hereditary Neuropathy with liability to Pressure Palsies).

Mr Lee said: “I’m walking round the entire coast of mainline Great Britain to raise money for HNPP. It’s something I’ve suffered from my whole life.

“It causes numbness, paralysis and muscle weakness and it’s going to get worse as I get older.

“There are currently no treatment options for it and no cure.

“There’s nothing you can really do to prevent it apart from maybe minimising your activity, but then you’re limiting your life.

“This will inevitably do long term damage to my body and I might become quite disabled from it, but the reason I’m doing the walk is to highlight my condition to people and raise awareness."

Mr Lee set off on his journey aged 19 and is hoping to finish his walk this time next year.

He is raising money which will go towards researching a cure for HNPP.

He said: “Pretty much 99 per cent of donations will go towards research by Dr Jun Li, who is the world’s leading doctor on HNPP.

“He has over 10 years’ experience and the money will go towards his lab where they are working on some ground-breaking research.”

Mr Lee said since entering Dorset he has been blown away by the scenery.

He said: “It’s been really lovely so far. The majority of the east coast is very flat and can be quite similar, but since coming into Dorset, there has been Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, the Lulworth Ranges, I've been up and down. There are some seriously stunning coastal features. Portland was lovely to go around, an amazing walk, the coastline becomes a lot more spectacular as you come into Dorset.”

Mr Lee said people have been very generous towards him during his expedition.

He has so far stayed in caravans, tents, on sofas and has even been put up in hotels, all without spending a penny on accommodation.

He has also been involved in a number of hair-raising incidents, including being chased by various animals, becoming stuck in mud and falling in puddles and down hills.

However, this has done little to dampen his spirits as he continues his trip.

For more information, including how to sponsor Barney, visit barneylee.co.uk