LIFE'S A GAS!

On his 6,500-mile journey to Kathmandu, Mr Walton will negotiate hotspots like Turkey, Iran and Pakistan to show how the fuel can reduce pollution.

Before he does that he will fly there first and drive an auto-rickshaw all the way back.

The project is planned for summer 2005, by which time Mr Walton hopes any conflict in the Gulf will be over.

But the deputy headmaster at Worcester's King's St Alban's Junior School is losing sleep already.

"There are some technical problems at the moment but it will put a monetary value on street rubbish," he said. "It will clean up Kathmandu and other Nepalese streets.

"The idea is to present the technology through writing a book and making a film to develop the technology out there.

"I have my route planned already, avoiding Afghanistan, and it should take about two months.

"I'm already having a few sleepless nights about it, but I have a team of people looking specifically at the obstacles I'll come across."

His route will take them along the old hippy trail of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India before entering Nepal.

"It's still two years away and there could be significant change, but I anticipate that things in Iraq may well calm down before then," said Mr Walton. "We'll be monitoring the situation before we go, but that's the route at the moment."

The 51-year-old normally leads expeditions of teenagers from The King's School, Worcester, to the Himalayas.

He will be joined on his journey by some of the Nepalese who support those expeditions, including one Sherpa the school has sponsored through university.

More than 30 King's School students are involved in the golf buggy's development, which will show the Nepalese how they can use environmentally-friendly transport.

"I decided that I wanted to do something that wasn't a selfish impulse but put something back into the community out there," said Mr Walton.

Anyone who wants to help the odd marathon can call him at the school on 01905 354906.