A man who swam 15km in memory of his mother has raised more than £3,000 to help the fight against breast cancer.

Scott Atkinson, a 48-year-old solicitor from St Albans, took part in the 15k challenge at Westminster Lodge.

Mr Atkinson had to swim 5k lengths for three consecutive days from March 29 to 31 and managed to raise £3,115 over his £500 target for Cancer Research and Marie Curie.

Mr Atkinson said: “It was very hard mentally but there was a massive sense of achievement at the end and the amazing amount of donations really helped push me on.”

Scott’s personal reason to swim was to honour his mother Penelope who died from breast cancer 21 years ago at the age of 54.

He started training in January despite the difficulty of fitting in 100 length swims due to his work and family commitments.

Cllr Annie Brewster said: “Swimathon is a great opportunity to bring together the local community in a joint charity effort and whether people swam 400 metres or 15km they have all played their part and made a difference this weekend.”

There were 92 swimmers who took part at Westminster Lodge, the youngest swimmer was seven and the oldest aged 72.

To support Scott and donate please go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/scott-atkinson2019.