COMEDIAN David Walliams abandoned his target destination last night after battling severe sickness on his third day swimming the Thames.

But he won cheers from supporters along the route, after making a remarkable recovery to swim from Abingdon to Wallingford on the third day of his 140-mile swim.

He started in the morning at Abingdon Lock, then passed through Days Lock at Little Wittenham about 2pm and was cheered by 200 people as he arrived for a tea-time stop at the Shillingford Bridge Hotel in Wallingford at about 4pm.

He tucked into a plate of spaghetti bolognese and drank a cup of hot chocolate before having a massage and getting back into the water after 5pm.

But Mr Walliams, who is raising money for Sport Relief, decided not to try to reach his target of Goring Lock and made Wallingford Bridge his final destination, saving the 12-mile stretch until the morning.

Mr Walliams’ spokesman Anna Capleton, who is part of a team following the comedian in a support boat, said: “David knows it is going to be a long day tomorrow and needs to keep his strength up so he has decided to stop for the day at Wallingford Bridge. He was really struggling this morning and was being sick as he was swimming.

“But since then he managed to keep his food down and started to make good progress. David loved the welcome from the people of Wallingford — the support is helping to spur him on. We have a doctor monitoring him very closely and he is determined to get to the end.”

Andy McEwan, with the support team, added: “He has been taking lots of energy tablets and his mood improved as the day went on.”

According to Comic Relief spokesman Kimberley Williams, Mr Walliams has been struggling to cope with the filthy river water.

Mr Walliams said: “I always knew there was a risk taking in the water could cause problems but now it’s happened it has still hit me really hard.”

Paul Lifford, 57, from Worcester, who is on a narrowboat holiday on the Thames with wife Linda, 58, joined the crowds at Shillingford Bridge.

He said: “What David is doing is absolutely remarkable – I don’t think people appreciate what a difficult task this is.”

An estimated 3,000 people gathered at Abingdon Bridge on Tuesday night to see Mr Walliams arrive in the town.

Environment Agency operations manager Matthew Carter warned supporters to take care of slippery riverbanks and added: “The organisers have been great in discouraging people from trying to join in.”

* To sponsor him, visit sportrelief.com/walliams