A Sussex bobby is abandoning his patrol bike to ski and sledge to the North Pole.

PC Will Thomas is taking on one of the most dangerous treks on earth, while raising money to save heart attack victims on Brighton and Hove seafront.

At 6ft 5in and weighing 19st, PC Thomas is a familiar sight on seafront patrol and at John Street police station.

He loves the city but is always on the lookout for adventures.

Last year PC Thomas, 35, travelled to North Korea "just because it's hard to get to" and later to Uganda to see mountain gorillas. He has also travelled to northern Sweden on a husky safari to see the Northern Lights and ridden his motorbike to North Cape, the northern-most part of Europe, to see the midnight sun.

PC Thomas said he had always longed to visit the North Pole. He is joining a six-strong expedition led by police Inspector Mike Thornewill from Nottinghamshire.

PC Thomas said: "I have had initial fitness tests, and right up until we leave we have preparation exercises to get used to the kit and to practise drills."

The trip, planned for April, will last three weeks.

"We start the trip by travelling to Svalbard, an archipelago about 600km from the North Pole. We have a week there to prepare and begin our acclimatisation.

Then we fly to 'ice station Borneo' in a large Russian plane and then by helicopter to our starting point.

"The aim is to make a surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean between latitude MN and the Geographic North Pole at MN.

"This is known as The Last Degree, a foot journey of 60 nautical miles. From then on we will be floating on drifting sea ice only a few feet thick - below us the ocean is almost three miles deep.

"We will travel between six and eight hours a day, camping each night on the sea ice until reaching the North Pole."

PC Thomas is collecting sponsorship to buy defibrillators for use around Brighton and Hove seafront. Contact him on William.Thomas@sussex.pnn.police.uk