THE chief executive of P&O Ferries, Robert Woods, will head a pack of some 300 cyclists from the shipping industry for a bike ride from Greenwich to Le Touquet via Dover in aid of seafarers and the marine environment next month.

The first Tour Pour la Mer is a 200-kilometre bike ride sponsored by P&O which sets off from the historic Cutty Sark in Greenwich on May 12 and heads to Dover for the crossing to Calais and on to Le Touquet.

The event will be raising money for The Mission to Seafarers, whose president is The Princess Royal, as it celebrates 150 years of caring for seafarers, and the Sea Alarm Foundation which is dedicated to rehabilitating wildlife affected by marine oil spills.