A CYCLIST who completed his final 350 mile journey at the age of 72 has picked up a prestigious award at The Pride of Essex awards ceremony.

Retired police sergeant Geoffrey Lee, of Mayland, has spent nearly 50 years of his life cycling for charity, raising a total of more than £150,000 for various causes.

In August, he completed his London to Paris ride, despite going through a triple by-pass and a knee replacement.

At the Pride of Essex Awards 2016 held at Anglia Ruskin University last week, Geoffrey was honoured with the Community Champion Award for his outstanding commitment.

Geoffrey said: “After the by-pass and knee replacement, my wife Edna told me that my charity cycling days could be over.

“But I already had one left booked and that was it. I’m not very quick now, but I can keep going and will eventually get there.”

Geoffrey joined many young cyclists on the London to Paris ride, and managed to complete the challenge without any hiccups, cycling more than 350 miles in the space of four days.

He came away from the awards with a certificate, an engraved trophy and a cheque, all of which he will be donating to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

In the 1980s, Geoffrey was also awarded the British Empire Medal for his charity fundraising.

Geoffrey added: “With these types of fundraising, the publicity really helps, it gets all the community involved and the donations increase.

“It’s wonderful that people have been so supportive of the cause over the years, it’s part of what kept me going.

“I will miss the journeys, but it was great to end my run with a successful journey, and to be recognised by Pride is really touching. Hopefully it will do even more to help out other fundraisers.”