A west Dorset couple have walked around the whole coast of Britain - and it only took them just over nine months.

Simon and Susan Murphy, who live in Uplyme, set off from home on New Years Day, walking west and camping along the coast or staying in B&B's, walking for 281 days and covering 4,500 miles.

They had no vehicular support and friends only brought out supplies, such as new boots and a camera, three times throughout the whole trip.

The pair arrived back in Lyme Regis on October 8, welcomed by family and friends, after nine months, one week and a day away from home.

Susan said: “We’ve always done long distance walks, not anything on this scale, so when we retired in 2011, we thought we would do the ultimate long-distance walk and walk around the coast of Great Britain.

Although now pleased to be home, they both made many memories on the trip, including the different scenery along the coast path and even seeing seals.

Simon said: “To me, one of the big highlights of the trip was walking between Newburgh and Aberdeen, a 12-mile beach walk.

“As you leave Newburg, there is a river estuary where people were stopping and taking photos of seals. Four miles along, there were a group of lads playing football on the beach and about 40 ft offshore, there were around 20 seals just sitting there watching. We had gone from the seals being observed by people to the seals watching the lads.”

They met a range of inspiring people along their travels, which became a real highlight of the trip.

Susan said: “One of the big things about the whole thing was all of the people we talked to on the way around.

“I’m not a very chatty person and at the start of the walk, I would be stopping to look at birds and Simon would disappear and chat to someone. As we went further, I actually started doing the same, spending 20 minutes to half an hour talking along the coast path - they were so interesting.”

The pair were greeted in Lyme Regis on Tuesday, October 8 with a big welcome home banner, some surprise guests and family and friends.

For anyone thinking of doing the same, Simon recommends that they make sure their kit is the best it can be.

He said: “Our tent is a really expensive tent, but we couldn’t have done without it. We also got through three pairs of boots each - you can’t have wet feet and you’ve got to have got waterproofs.

“Research the kit and buy the best you can.”