Rowing to France and back without leaving dry land is no mean feat, but now one man has managed it in the middle of a bustling supermarket.Gym instructor Lloyd Thompson spent hours on Tuesday surrounded by shopping trolleys as he covered the 44 mile return journey across the English Channel on a rowing machine in Morrisons.

Rowing to France and back without leaving dry land is no mean feat, but now one man has managed it in the middle of a bustling supermarket.

Gym instructor Lloyd Thompson spent hours on Tuesday surrounded by shopping trolleys as he covered the 44 mile return journey across the English Channel on a rowing machine in Morrisons.

The 32-year-old from Dereham took about three hours to cover the 35,398 metres to France, taking an hours rest before beginning the same journey back.

He said: “Lots of people have come in to support me. It's been brilliant. A couple of hours in it began to get really difficult.

“The heating came on and it's so uncomfortable. I've got blisters on my hands and my bum is sore. Rowing takes more out of you than other sports. You're going against your body.

“If I wasn't raising money, especially for children, I would have stopped halfway through.”

Mr Thompson is desperately trying to raise £2,500 to take part in a 10-day Great Wall of China trek for Scope, and has so far raised £1,100.

And on hand to help feed him energy fuelled foods such as flapjacks, bananas and chocolate bars, was his friend and boss, gym manager of Dereham Leisure Centre, Matthew Casson, who even offered to throw fish and water over Mr Thompson in a bid to make the experience more realistic.

tTo sponsor Mr Thompson visit www.justgiving.com/lloydthompson or visit Dereham Leisure Centre.