An endurance swimmer who is tackling the length of the English Channel in an important awareness-raising mission stopped off for a break on Portland.

And Lewis Pugh, who has been described as the 'Sir Edmund Hillary of swimming', came face to face with a local legend.

Mr Pugh, who is is aiming to be the first person to swim the full length of the Channel from Land’s End to Dover, was visited by local swimming legend Mervyn Sharp nicknamed 'King of the Channel', who has swam between England and France seven times.

Mr Sharp, who met Mr Pugh at Portland Marina, said: "I gave him a few tips and told him to keep going because it'll be worth it in the end. He's just got to keep his head down and he'll get there."

Portland represents the halfway mark of Mr Pugh's 560km journey.

He is undertaking the challenge to raise awareness of the impact of plastic pollution on the ocean, and to campaign for greater protection of the UK’s waters.

Before beginning the next leg of his challenge, he told the Echo yesterday: “I have been blown away by the beauty of the coastline here, it’s magnificent.

“I can’t wait to see the Jurassic Coast east of Weymouth and will be anchoring in Lulworth Cove later. I have seen pictures of it but have never been there before. Everyone who has been there can’t stop raving about it, so that will definitely be one of the highlights of my trip.”

Mr Pugh stopped at Portland on the 25th day of his 50-day challenge and said he felt exhausted after swimming an average of 12km a day.

As well as completing his swim during the daytime, he has been putting pressure on the UK government to take action.

Out of the 750,000 square kilometres of seas around the UK, only seven square kilometres are fully protected.

He said: “It’s more than just raising awareness, we need action. I am a UN ambassador for oceans and have been swimming in the sea for years and have seen how they’ve change.

“This will be the longest swim I have ever taken, it’s a mammoth long distance but swimming is just one part of what I am doing.

“At the end of each day I am talking with the government and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) about creating marine protected areas around the UK and with the foreign office about protecting oceans under British jurisdiction.

“The British government is dealing with a lot of issues at the moment, including Brexit, so we have to fit ourselves into their schedule by bringing these issues to the heart of the government.”