FIRST Little Britain comedian David Walliams put the English Channel when swam across its chilly waters for Sport Relief and now a charity fundraiser from Redbridge will attempt to cross the channel - underwater.

Colin Osbourne, from Hainault who founded the men's cancer charity Orchid after he nearly lost the battle against testicular cancer in 1996, is attempting to become one of the first people to cross the Channel as part of a underwater relay team.

A team of seven divers aim to take to the underwater on August 4, when there is an eight day window of neap tides making the swim across the channel easier.

The 24-hour relay will see the seven divers taking turns to swim for half an hour each at a depth of 10 metres and while the diver will have radio contact with the support boat the dive will essentially be a solo one.

If the team succeeds it will be the first time this type of channel crossing has ever been completed.

Mr Osbourne, who is also an open water scuba instructor, said: "I am doing this for two reasons. Firstly, it has never been done before and secondly, 2006 is my tenth year in remission. This is not a day I ever thought I'd see when I was told I had three months to live 10 years ago.

"Also the first fundraising event I ever undertook for Orchid was a sponsored dive in the lake at Ilford Golf Club to see how many golf balls I could retrieve.

"The channel swim might be a bit more challenging than the lake but the reasons are the same; to fight the battle against male cancers."

For further information call Mr Osborne on 8501 3027 or 07747 034 762 or log on to colin@orchid-cancer.org.uk