A FLOUR miller from West Oxfordshire suffering from an inoperable brain tumour will be trekking 100 kilometres across Cambodia next month to support cancer research in Oxfordshire.

Peter Symons was diagnosed with a grade two glioma astrocytoma in his frontal lobe, which affects the nerve cells, after having a seizure in 2010 while working for flour millers FWP Matthews.

The 51-year-old started at the company, based in Shipton-Under-Wychwood, in 2008.

Because of the seizure he had to stop working in his previous position as an HGV driver, but was offered a new role at the company as a flour miller.

Now five years on from his diagnosis he has decided to take on the challenge, which will take him through some of the most beautiful villages and forests in Asia, in aid of the Oxfordshire branch of Macmillan.

The Carterton resident, who lives with his wife Jan, said: “Macmillan has always been very close to my heart, I’ve had two friends who have been diagnosed with bowel and prostrate cancer and I know it’s something that affects a lot of people.

“I am a frequent visitor to the John Radcliffe Hospital and I know that I could end up in the Sobell House hospice, so it’s vital that more research is done.”

Although the tumour cannot be fully removed, doctors at the John Radcliffe have undertaken three operations to remove some of the matter from his brain.

Mr Symons will join about 45 other walkers for the route, which will start in the city of Siem Reap in the north-west of Cambodia on November 7.

Mr Symons said he was grateful for FWP Matthews for keeping him on after he was diagnosed.

He said: “ The support I’ve had from colleagues has been great, it’s just so fortunate that I am able to keep working.

“I might have been diagnosed with this tumour but I am still keen and fit enough to keep going.

“I know I might never get this chance again.”

So far he has raised £3,850 for the charity, more than halfway to his target of £6,000.

To donate visit justgiving.com/peter-symons2