This plucky pensioner has a grand challenge on his hands when he abseils down a seafront hotel.

Sprightly Dick Morley, 85, of Beacon Road, Ditchling, will be found abseiling down the Grand Hotel in Brighton tomorrow to raise hundreds of pounds for charity.

The former Longhill School headmaster, affectionately known as Mole to his ex-pupils, will take the plunge with scores of other fundraisers in aid of Action for Children.

He said: “It will be the first time I have ever abseiled but I’m not nervous. I told them I’d do it Full Monty in return for increased sponsorship money – but they said for health reasons that a strap going across certain parts of my body would have been a bit sore.”

Dick, who taught at Longhill from 1963 to 1988, is calling on former colleagues and pupils to help fill his fundraising kitty.

He hopes to raise at least £500 for the charity – which supports and speaks out for the UK’s most vulnerable, disadvantaged and neglected children and young people.

To donate visit virginmoneygiving.com/dickmorley or send a cheque to Jean Morley at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Brighton, BN2 1RL. For further details visit www.actionforchildren.org.uk.