BARELY a year after cheating death, a Worcester toddler is aiming to win a place in the record books.

Three-year-old Amy Lambert, who has overcome a series of life-threatening illnesses during her short life, is aiming to set the record for the longest distance travelled between John O'Groats and Land's End.

The youngster, dubbed "Amazing Amy" by staff at Birmingham Children's Hospital, is joining her dad, Darren, on the trip in August.

They are hoping to raise money for the hospital along the way to repay it for saving Amy's life last year.

They will be stopping at as many Sainsbury's stores as possible along the way, after the company decided to sponsor the fund-raising mission.

And they believe these various stops off-route will make it the longest distance travelled between the two famed destinations.

Mr Lambert, of Green Lane, Worcester, was a lorry driver before giving up work to help his wife, Laura, look after Amy, so he decided to use a lorry for the marathon journey.

He said they were looking for sponsors to help them raise as much money as possible for the hospital's paediatric intensive care unit and cancer unit.

"Amy spent nine weeks in the PICU with her life in the balance, and we are so grateful to the hospital for saving her life that we wanted to give something back to say thank you," he said.

The truck has been named the Queen of Hearts after the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

It has been donated by R I Gill Haulage from Derbyshire. The Lamberts' fund-raising efforts have been given a boost by Sarah McGregor, organiser of The Peak Truck Shows, who will be donating £1 for every truck entered in the shows.

"We are so excited to be part of this fantastic event and when you meet Amy, you would find it hard to say no," said Ms McGregor.

David Shepherd, acting head of fund-raising at the hospital, wished Darren and Amy well.

"Amy is a great little girl and we have all become very fond of her," he said.

Amy was diagnosed with leukaemia in December 2001, and also suffered a severe blood infection and contracted pneumonia shortly afterwards.

However, she pulled through against the odds and is now hoping to go to playschool later in the year.