Peter May, 40, faces high tides, fatigue and jellyfish in his attempt to swim the 19 nautical miles from Samphire Hoe, Kent to Cap Gris-Nez in France.

Peter, from Pintail Close, has been training for two-and-a-half years for the challenge and has been practising with five-hour swims in Lake Windermere and Malta.

He is raising money for local charity Cash for Kids, and also the family of Sam Young – the son of a work colleague and a previous beneficiary of the charity who has cerebral palsy.

Before he set off, Peter said: "I had always wanted to swim the Channel and thought it would be a fantastic springboard to raise money for worthwhile causes that are local to me.

"I will get up in the middle of the night to start at 1am on Friday morning to suit the tides, this way I can use them to boost me across. The swim is 19 nautical miles, which is about 21 land miles. The furthest I have swum so far is 24 miles over two days, so I'm feeling very confident!"

His wife Lesley is on the boat following him, where she will be lowering calorie-filled Milky Ways, bottled warm drinks and tinned apricots to Peter during the expected 12 - 14 hour swim.

Peter said: "We have found during my training that tinned apricots are amazing for energy and so easy to eat when I'm in the water! I'll also be taking in a lot of warm drinks during the swim, as the water is about 15 degrees so it's going to be very very cold out there."

He has had a lot of support from the local community in Leyland, including a massive £1,800 donation from the Leyland Round Table.

Peter is already considering attempting the Arctic Mile – a full mile's swim in Arctic waters between Russia and Canada.

You can donate at www.justgiving.com/petermay2 and follow his progress at http://peteschannelswim.blogspot .com