ECO-WARRIOR Oly Rush is to swim the length of Dorset's Jurassic Coast to help protect it from selfish litter louts.

Oly is taking on the 100 mile challenge to raise awareness and money after cleaning up after Covidiots who descended on the World Heritage site last month and left tonnes of rubbish behind.

Money raised will go towards two voluntary organisations of litter-pickers that look after the protected beaches.

Oly, 35, plans to set off from the Jurassic Coast's most western point in Exmouth, Devon, in August and will swim eastwards along the Dorset coast.

At Portland Bill he will take on the famous 'Race', a treacherous tide that has claimed many ships over the years.

He will then swim through the iconic Durdle Door arch, then on to Lulworth Cove, Kimmeridge and Swanage before finishing at the most eastern end of the coastline at Old Harry Rocks.

He believes he will complete the swim in 10 days.

He will be joined by fellow waste warriors Roy Beal, Jake Sculthorp and Rosie Bailey who will support him on kayaks.

Oly, a plasterer from Upton, Poole, who is engaged to NHS worker Tess, voluntarily cleans Dorset's beaches on a weekly basis.

He said: "I've been helping to clear up litter in Dorset for a long time, but I have never seen scenes of destruction like the heatwave in June before.

"There were two occasions after lockdown measures had been relaxed when the world and his wife seemed to descend on Dorset.

"As soon as I saw the scenes on the news, I knew I had to get to Durdle Door and clear the inevitable mess these visitors would leave behind. Even I was shocked by what I saw.

"There was litter strewn as far as the eye could see. It was shocking.

"If volunteers like us don't pick it up then it ends up in the sea and kills wildlife. I just find it unfathomable that people cannot understand that.

"I swim in the sea as often as I can but I have been putting in extra training preparing for this challenge.

"If my swim helps hammer that message home then every one of those 96 miles will be worth it."

To support Oly's Swim Jurassic mission go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/swimjurassic