A team of 16 bikers have already signed up for the Saddle Sore Rally – a gruelling attempt to ride 1,100 miles around Britain in under 24 hours.

The event has been organised by Dave Baglee, who runs a Gosport-based motorcycle teaching centre Paragon Rider Training.

All cash raised by the event will be donated to The Haemochromatosis Society – a charity raising awareness of a condition known as Iron Overload Disorder.

Mr Baglee, 54, and wife Nerolie, 53, lost their 22-year-old son Luke to the disorder on July 18, 2004.

He said: 'He said he had stomach ache and went to the doctor on the Thursday and he was told he had a viral infection.

'By the Sunday it had got really bad and so we took him to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham and they put him in intensive care but by 9pm he was gone.

'It wasn't until the postmortem examination that we were told he died because an iron overload had caused all his major organs to fail.

'He was a fun-loving lad, he liked his motorcycle and he liked his job as a croupier at the casino in Gunwharf.'

Mr Baglee, of Privett Road, got the idea for a marathon charity ride because of his son's love of bikes.

Mr Baglee's former navy colleague Andrew Weston, with whom he served on HMS Bristol during the Falklands War, said it would be a first of its kind in the UK.

Mr Weston, 44, of St Edwards Road, Gosport, said: 'They have an Iron Butt Association in the US and they plan on bringing it over here later in the year.

The route will take them from the start point in Gosport to Exeter, up the west coast to Glasgow, across to Edinburgh then down the east coast, round London then back to Gosport.

It is due to start at 4am on Saturday, May 10.

Anyone who would like to offer sponsorship can call (01329) 848702. If anyone would like to take part call Paragon on 0800 849 6094 or go to www.orangebikers.com