A former director of an estate agent has more than doubled his fundraising target following a 630-mile walk to help fight a cancer that has afflicted several members of his family.

Paul Beevers from Porkellis, formerly the property lettings director at Heather and Lay in Falmouth, hoped to raise at least £3,000 for Prostate Cancer UK, through walking the length of the South West Coast path.

To date the total stands at £7,300, with donations still coming in.

Paul said: “Prostate cancer is far more common in men than many people realise and in my family has accounted for my grandfather and afflicted my father and stepfather-in-law, both of whom are currently clear after treatment.

“I know of many others, both personally and professionally, that have been affected by this, most recently my former physio Louis Gifford whose passing at 60 was desperately sad.”

His marathon walk started in Poole, Dorset before taking in Portland, the Jurassic Coast and the entire coasts of Devon and Cornwall before the final Somerset section.

After 42 days, 630 miles and 35,000 metres of climbing, Paul arrived in Minehead, Somerset to a warm welcome from waiting friends and family.

The start of the walk coincided with a prolonged heatwave, which meant that while in 28 days he had only seen just 35 minutes of rain, carrying a heavy rucksack and staying hydrated proved particularly challenging.

In order to “stay sane” and record the scenery en route, Paul wrote a daily blog for the trip which can still be seen at paulbeevers.wordpress.com and has received over 5,000 visits to date from all over the world.

Paul said afterwards: “It has without doubt been one of the most uplifting and amazing experiences of my life and one which I will never forget.

“It has challenged me both physically and mentally like nothing else I have ever done before.”

He added that he had been “humbled by the kindness and generosity” of people he met along the way, saying: “A sincere thank you to one and all – without you this would not have been possible.”

Seren Evans, from Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We are all blown away here by Paul’s amazing achievement and fundraising efforts for our charity. He is truly inspirational.”

There is still time to sponsor Paul online at visit www.justgiving.com/paul-beevers630 Paul will return to more familiar pastures at the end of this year when, in tandem with his former co-director Garrin Webb, he will be launching Rainbow Property, a Falmouth based property letting business.