THE parents of a woman from Bowerhill who died in a road accident were thrilled to find out that someone is going to run the London Marathon in their daughter’s memory.

Sandra and John Phillips, of Semington, were contacted by Andy Petty who asked if they would be happy for him to run the London Marathon in aid of Wiltshire Air Ambulance, while also fundraising in memory of Michelle Phillips, who died in a car accident in Devon at the age of 26.

Mrs Phillips, 69, said: “Andy called us and asked if we would be happy for him to run and raise money in memory of Michelle. It is a lovely thing to do. We have a lot of her friends asking if they can do fundraisers around her birthday. For my husband’s birthday we are asking people to donate to Wiltshire Air Ambulance instead of buying gifts and we did that for my birthday too – I have everything I need already."

Andy Petty, 44, of Carlingcott near Bath, had known Michelle for a number of years through friends and the Melksham Youth Centre and decided to ask her family if they would mind if he ran the marathon on April 23 to help with the air ambulance fundraising.

“I have tried to enter the London Marathon for six years and haven’t been successful but this year I got in. I don’t really have a charity I would usually run it for so I thought I would get hold of Darren, Michelle’s brother, on Facebook and ask if his parents were still fundraising,” Mr Petty said.

“I used to live in Melksham and my grandfather used to run the local youth group. That’s how I met Michelle and she also went out with one of my friends. We were all surfing in Devon before she was in the accident.”

Mr and Mrs Phillips have been fundraising for Wiltshire Air Ambulance for the past 13 years in memory of Michelle and have raised just over £14,000 for the charity. Mr Petty has already raised £800 which will be added to the Phillips’ total.

“I originally aimed for £500 but now I have surpassed it I am aiming for £1,000. I think it is going to be a case of asking my friends and asking around the office,” Mr Petty added.

“The training has gone well, I have done about 20 miles, they tell you not to run the whole distance during the training stage.”

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/andy-petty-vlm2017