A FORMER policeman will drive 8,000 miles on a tractor to raise money in memory of a former Colchester schoolboy.

Peter Matheson bought a vintage Massey Ferguson for £7,000 on eBay and will be spending £16,000 getting to Norway and back.

He will be towing a caravan and reckons his top speed will be 15mph.

The hare-brained stunt, starting on August 9, will take about four months to complete and he hopes to raise £100,000 for charity.

He is taking on the challenge to raise money for the Tom Bowdidge Foundation and Unicef.

Tom, from West Bergholt, died aged 19 in October last year from an aggressive stomach cancer.

Before he died, he raised more than £100,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust and his parents have set up a foundation in his name.

Mr Matheson, 50, who used to work in Colchester, said: “I thought I’d do something a bit different."

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