FOR many people, sitting on overheated buses for 700 miles would be their summer holiday from hell.

But Alan Gurr from Didcot, who works in a packaging warehouse, is really looking forward to it.

The divorced father-of-two is planning his route by bus from Land’s End in Cornwall to Berwick-on-Tweed, the last town in England before the Scottish border.

With his bus pass, the 65-year-old can travel for free throughout England, but not in Scotland and Wales.

After catching the train from Didcot Parkway to Penzance in Cornwall on Monday, July 8, he will then get the bus to Land’s End so that he can begin his bus trip, arriving on July 14.

Grandfather Mr Gurr of Orchard Close, said: “It’s a 700-mile trip and my route planner features 31 different bus journeys.

“Sometimes the buses might be late and then I could miss one, so I will need to keep my wits about me.

“I realise that some people might think this is a holiday from hell but it’s purely for my own enjoyment – it’s not something I am doing for charity.

“I enjoy doing crosswords so I will take a few with me and I will also take notes on the trip so I can give my son and daughter feedback.

“I like travelling around England and I will take the opportunity to visit some places I have never been before.

“I don’t enjoy getting sunburnt on a beach so I couldn’t go off to Majorca or the south of France.”

Mr Gurr, who works for TNT at the Milton Park estate near Didcot, said he will be staying in a B&B every night and expects to spend about £300 on accommodation during his week away.

He added: “Not everyone likes the same things, but I will get to see a lot of the English countryside through a bus window.

“The longest bus ride will be on the very first day of the trip, when I will spend three hours getting from Exeter to Weymouth.

“I will visit some pubs in the towns along the route and perhaps meet some people along the way.”

After setting out from Cornwall, Mr Gurr will stop in Weymouth, Banbury, Burton-on-Trent, Thorne near Doncaster, Stockton-on-Tees and Berwick-on-Tweed.

Hugh Jaeger, Oxford-based spokesman for passenger lobby group Bus Users UK, said: “Good luck to Mr Gurr – I think he will have a smashing time.

Buses in some parts of the country are quite old-fashioned where the only ventilation will be to open the window, but most modern buses have good air conditioning.

“Mr Gurr will be able to sample the difference in the quality of bus services in different parts of the country.”

In 2006 Oxford Pensioners’ Action Group offered to subsidise bus travel for the elderly because the city council’s scheme limited free travel to destinations within the city boundaries.

This contrasted with pensioners elsewhere in the county, who were able to travel free to towns and neighbouring counties.

From April 1, 2008, people aged over 60 were allowed to travel off-peak on buses anywhere in England and Wales free of charge.

Roger Jenking, 60, of Headington, took advantage of the new scheme by making a 100-mile journey from Oxford to Crewe by using local buses.