An ice-cream man has raised more than £30,000 for charity by walking from Essex to Land’s End, pushing a shopping trolley for most of the walk.

Perry Scopes set off from his home in Grays on 3 January and picked up the trolley, nicknamed Bruce, in London – part-way through his 350 mile (563km) journey.

The 38-year-old took on the challenge to raise money and awareness for Friends Of Treetops Schools, a charity that helps children with special educational needs.

Mr Scopes said he was “bursting with pride” going into the final straight of his trek on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Scopes said finding the abandoned trolley on his route through London felt like a “gift from God”.

He said: “It was like the best thing I’d ever seen, there was no pound in it, it was on its own.

“I stuck my stuff in it and my mate Bruce has been with me the whole time. I’d rather push this trolley up a hill that carry a big pack with all my camping stuff in it.”

Mr Scopes said he pushed the trolley through “farms, fields and over big mountains” on his way to the finish line.

“We even went over the little town Minions which I believe is one of the top three biggest hills in Cornwall,” he added.

“Me and Bruce managed to get all the way up there, it took me about three hours to push him up.

“I must have the world record for the only person to go up Minions’ hill with a shopping trolley.”

His route saw him walk from Grays to Whitechapel in London, across to Heathrow, down through Berkshire, Wiltshire and Devon, and into Cornwall.

Mr Scopes said he was grateful to the Cornish community for their “overwhelming support”.

“Since I’ve come through they’ve been nothing but welcoming to me, giving me hot drinks, cakes, donations, and offering me places to stay,” he added.

“Everywhere I’ve been walking people have been giving me thumbs up and shouting out of windows, it’s been amazing.”

Mr Scopes said he didn’t plan to do the challenge and instead “just woke up one day and felt like I needed an adventure”.

“I had it in my head that I could walk to Cornwall, so I bought some boots, bought a bit of kit and a couple of weeks later I just started walking,” he said.

After finishing the challenge at about 14:30 GMT, Mr Scopes said he planned to spend some time in Penzance with his family to get some food, beer and a haircut.

He said: “My legs were burning, my bum was burning, but I wasn’t stopping.”

“I feel indestructible, I’m bursting with pride, I feel like nothing can stop me now.”