THE fund for a new Lizard lifeboat has been given a £10,000 boost, thanks to an epic walk by former actress Jannina Henderson.

Jannina, who lives near Bath, spent 11 months last year walking 4,500-miles around the coast of Britain, taking trackless bogs, lonely cliff tops, winter storms and blazing sunshine in her stride.

Setting off from Lyme Regis on January 1, 2006, she headed anti-clockwise around Britain, stopping off at the Lizard lifeboat station last November, when she had fewer than 300 miles to go.

Her marathon effort was in aid of four charities - the new lifeboat fund at the Lizard, the Woodland Trust, the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Topsy Foundation - an Aids orphanage in South Africa.

Every penny raised during the walk has gone to the charities, since Jannina covered all her costs herself, sleeping in a camper van driven by family and friends.

Lizard lifeboat treasurer Derrick Popple said: "We are hugely grateful to Jannina for her efforts. It was a marvellous effort and will give our fundraising towards a new lifeboat a huge boost."

The Lizard is in line for a new high-speed Tamar class lifeboat to replace the station's Tyne class David Robinson, which is 18 years old.