Hundreds of people cheered on an ex-Royal Marine who is undertaking a gruelling 650-mile endurance march to the Somme.

Mark Warrener is ‘yomping’ through England and France to raise £20,000 for the Royal British Legion (RBL) and aims to finish at the battlefields on July 1.

The 29-year-old stopped off in Accrington on Saturday and was greeted by hundreds of supporters including local RBL members, young Beavers and Cubs, MP Graham Jones and the Mayor.

A service was held at the Pals memorial on Church Street before Mark was handed a wreath, a hand-made cross and a Pals T-shirt.

Catherine Hughes, events coordinator at the Accrington RBL branch, said it was an ‘amazing’ day.

She said: “We became aware of what Mark and the others were doing through social media and our Facebook page. We then had a look to see if we could do anything to help them.

“Then when we found out Mark was coming to Accrington we decided we wanted to give him some backing and do a service for him.

“From there it got bigger and bigger, more people wanted to help and support him, particularly the Cubs and Beavers.

“It was an amazing turnout. I’m absolutely so proud of the people in Accrington and people that came from surrounding areas to pay their respects to Mark.

“We just feel a little overwhelmed. It’s such a huge act of remembrance they are doing.

“We hope to meet up with Mark again when we travel to the Somme on July 1 and to say again what a fantastic job him and their team are doing.”

The 23-day march will see Mark and fellow ex-Marines Christiaan Creaby and Michael Anderson, from Peak Military Fitness, averaging 30 miles a day as they make their way to the WWI battlefield as part of centenary commemorations.

They will be carrying 30lb packs, the average weight carried by a soldier in the 1916 battle.