YOU don't often see a man walking his donkey through the city centre, but that was the sight Worcester residents beheld on Saturday.

Adam Lee passed through Worcester on his 700-mile walk from Cape Wrath, in Scotland, to Portland Bill, in Dorset.

Locals saw the 37-year-old ambling through the city with his donkey, Martin.

Mr Lee said: “We are doing it for the love of walking and travel. When you travel abroad you have amazing experiences meeting people.

“I think it’s because abroad I look quite foreign. The most interesting experiences were staying with people. I found that with long-distance walking in the UK you don’t really get those experiences.

“But walking with a donkey turns it on its head and you look quite alien. Martin is like a people magnet.

“If you walk past with a donkey people fall over themselves to help you. They offer you a bed and meals.”

Mr Lee, who lives in Liverpool, said he is also raising money for the homeless charity Centrepoint, which he relates to because he often sleeps rough.

The former zoology student said he had developed a ‘very strong bond’ with Martin, who can only cover 10 miles per day, during their four months on the road together.

He added: “Donkeys are very dog-like. They like cuddles and human contact.

“He’s on loan from Alwood Donkeys. But I will buy him at the end of the walk, I’ve developed such a strong relationship with him.”

Mr Lee, who described himself as a ‘keen long-distance walker’ and an ‘animal lover’, first thought about getting a donkey while on a 600-mile walk through Central Asia.

He said he hated carrying food and equipment on his back and so appreciated the help of a pack animal.

Mr Lee, who works as a freelance photographer, trained with seven-year-old Martin for nine months before the walk, which started on May 24.

His journey from Cape Wrath Lighthouse to Portland Bill Lighthouse will finish later this month.

On his next adventure he plans to walk to China with three mules.