A Wandsworth policeman known as the Mad Cop is running 900 miles in 30 days dressed as an ostrich, only a year after spinal surgery.

Leaving from Trafalgar Square on April 1, Andy Seery will run through six countries for the Help for Heroes, covering about a marathon – 26 miles – each day, before finishing in Poland.

He said: “Each step I take will be for many soldiers who can’t. Seeing a cop on a yellow ostrich also shows the lighter side of policing too.”

PC Seery has been training six hours a day since last October and admitted his emotions were “all over the place”.