A homeless man and his dog are due in South East Cornwall this weekend as part of a 2,000-mile walk in aid of StreetVet, a social enterprise helping homeless people and their pets.

Phil Bradshaw, 49, and his canine friend Lucky, an 11-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, set off on July 18 from Southampton with the aim of walking more than 2,000 miles around the coasts, including the South West Coast Path, back to London.

Their journey, which will take several months, is expected to bring them to Looe this weekend.

Phil was helped by StreetVet after appealing to them to help Lucky when he found a lump in her mammary glands. He feared it was cancer but thankfully it was benign – and he decided to embark on The Long Walk for StreetVet to say thank you.

Phil said: ‘Living on the streets you don’t have access to a vet usually, but someone told me about StreetVet and they came and helped me and operated on Lucky.

‘I’m so thankful she’s okay and I wanted to give something back.

‘I hope the walk will raise awareness of StreetVet and raise funds so they can help more animals.’

Lucky has a buggy for when she gets tired which was donated. For more information about The Long Walk visit www.streetvet.co.uk and facebook.com/thelongwalkforstreet vet/