A VETERAN has visited 45 towns in 150 hours in a campaign to install plaques in honour of fallen soldiers.

Michael Homer, from Fareham, served in what was known as the Royal Army Service Corps between 1958 and 1960.

The 84-year-old wheelchair user completed the challenge - dubbed the "plaque-a-thon" - to raise funds for plaques for those who served and never returned home.

He started his journey on June 27 and visited a number of towns and places of military importance in 150 hours including Guildford, Andover, Bristol, Oxford and Reading, before travelling back to his home at the end of each day.

Mr Homer is the chairman of the National Service Veterans Alliance and said that getting plaques in county towns and towns of military importance has been a goal of the organisation’s, with only seven in the UK at the moment.

“When you’re fundraising, you’ve got to think of ways of catching people’s imagination,” he told the PA news agency.

“I thought, I like trains, so why don’t I create this challenge?

“I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully I can also get plaques for the towns and those I did not manage to visit.”

He originally planned to visit 50 county towns and other locations, but this plan was derailed due to train cancellations and strikes.

He said that people have been “more than generous” through making donations to his fundraising page.

So far, £6,000 has been raised by Mr Homer's efforts.

“The money isn’t for me – it’s for your father, your grandfather, who possibly did national service," he added.

During his time in National Service, Mr Homer served as an ambulance driver in Germany, which he said “did me the world of good”, despite losing his hearing and balance due to gunfire.

“I have to use a wheelchair wherever I go, but my National Service did me the world of good,” he said.

“It taught me an awful lot – it taught me respect, it taught me discipline and it gave me a trade.

“The comradeship in the army is second to none and the National Service Veterans Alliance tries to look after our members in the best way we can.”

To donate, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/wrhzy-plaqueathon