Charity leader Steve Dayman has completed his latest long distance walk and raised £60,000 towards eradicating the disease that claimed the life of his son.

Steve, chief executive of Bristol-based Meningitis UK, trekked across England for 25 days, covering 540 miles. The Big 4 Walk took him from Southampton to Sheffield, back home to South Gloucestershire and Bristol and on to Oxford and London.

The route was in the shape of the number four, to highlight that meningitis can kill in under four hours, and visited university cities where the charity is funding research into a vaccine against meningitis B, including Bristol.

The strain of the disease accounts for nearly 90 per cent of all cases of meningitis in the UK, and the Meningitis UK Search 4 a Vaccine campaign aims to raise £7 million to help develop an immunisation programme.

In the past 20 years major advances have been made in the field of meningitis research, with vaccines introduced against other forms of the disease.

Scientists now believe that if the funding continues to come in, a vaccine against the B-strain could be developed within two years.

Steve, of Alveston, near Thornbury, was joined by more than 100 supporters during his walk, including football legend and long-time supporter of the charity, Denis Law.

It was the 25th trek completed by Steve and along the way he clocked up his 10,000th mile.

He said: "To raise £60,000 is phenomenal, especially given the current economic climate.

"It was a lot of hard work but raising a total like that makes the aches and pains well worth it. The most important thing for me was walking to some of the universities carrying out a total of five projects funded by Meningitis UK, which demonstrates the commitment we're making to research.

"Along the way I was joined by dozens of families whose lives have been shattered by meningitis. It really reinforced the importance of finding a vaccine to eradicate all forms of the disease."

Steve founded his charity in memory of his son, Spencer, who died of meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia in 1982 when he was 14-months-old.

It is currently funding research to the tune of £1.12 million.