A Wiltshire man trying to raise £20,000 for the RNLI
by crossing the Irish Sea in a giant hamster wheel has had to abandon the
attempt after just 15 miles.

Engineer Chris Todd had hoped to cover the 66 miles
non-stop in 48 hours by walking inside a homemade ‘tredalo’ consisting of a
large wheel suspended between two kayaks.

He set off in calm conditions from Trearddur Bay,
north Wales, but after 12 hours both rudders broke off.

‘He tried to turn around but the vessel
disintegrated,’ said one of his support team later.

‘The whole thing sank to the bottom of the sea. It won’t be
a danger to navigation.’

Before the attempt, Chris had said: ‘Crossing the
Irish Sea is on the very edge of what I believe is possible ­- there is no
guarantee of success.’

The idea came to him came to him while rowing across a
lake.

He spent a year building the wheel in his shed.