WORM broth and roasted slugs will be the diet of a self confessed "local lunatic" embarking on a wilderness survival mission in Wales.

Ian Griffiths, 43, will survive with no tent, sleeping bag or food and water when he spends seven days and nights in the Welsh mountains this month.

Mr Griffiths will carry nothing more than a small survival tin, a knife, and the clothes on his back in a bid to raise cash and awareness for Tsunami survivors.

Crushed worms mixed with water reed roots, boiled nettle leaves, spiders and beetles will make up his daily menu.

The mission is being organised to help launch a new charity to help Sri Lankan survivors of the tsunami to rebuild their lives.

Mr Griffiths, who has served with the Parachute Regiment and the French Foreign Legion, is setting up a registered charity with a group of friends so that he can work with communities in the devastated region.

"Living off the land isn't easy at the best of times, but to think of entire families who lost everything in the tsunami and are having to live in the most primitive conditions really puts this challenge into perspective.

"That's why I chose the survival mission," said Mr Griffiths, who lives in Walthamstow.

The endurance test will run from April 16 to 22, and Mr Griffiths will be dropped off by his friends in the Brecon Beacons before setting off alone.

He is an experienced survival expert, having organised group action holiday expeditions to Dartmoor.

But the changeable weather of the Welsh hills will provide all sorts of challenges.

He will make his own shelter, find a water source and materials from the wild to keep warm.

He said: "There's so much to do during the day that you are always busy finding food, or getting suitable materials for the shelter.

"I have to admit the food generally doesn't taste all that good, but you are eating to live. It's not the local takeaway."

As well as foraging for plants and insects, Mr Griffiths will look out for carrion and will carry a small snare wire and fishing line to catch fresh produce.

"If you find a dead animal, it's a bonus. As long as you cook it for a long time it will be OK," he added.

Any donations that people make to the appeal will fund work in Hikkaduwa, southern Sri Lanka.

Mr Griffiths has already raised £550 of the £1,000 required to set up the registered charity by doing a 30 mile sponsored run from High Roding to Walthamstow.

Cheques made payable to the Tigerzone Trust should be sent to Tigerzone Trust, c/o Unit 315, Bon Marche Centre, 241 Ferndale Road, London, SW9 8BJ.