ROUND the world challenger Halesowen’s Sam Greatrex is stuck in Gibraltar awaiting the go-ahead to kayak across the straits to Morocco.

He arrived there last week, a month after leaving Paris on his epic bid to complete the fastest human powered circumnavigation of the Earth. The 29-year-old cancer survivor needs permission from the harbour master for Algecira, who has to conduct traffic around the projected progress of the kayak.

He said: “It's a big operation that's likely to take three weeks to map out.”

Mr Greatrex reached the Rock by bicycle accompanied by a friend from the UK for 400km from the Spanish town of Cordoba.

He blogged: “I cycled into the tiny village of Borja at midday Tuesday to get a pre-siesta snack only to wander into the middle of a marching band and huge figures parading the crowded streets.

“Aside from this one exception, almost every town is deserted for what felt like much of the day. And so I was even more grateful to see my friend Louise than I normally would be, she was the first thing I’d seen that wasn’t an olive tree for about three days.”

Mr Greatrex is attempting smash 11 world records and raise £240,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support is to kayak from Gibraltar across to Morocco.

He set off from Paris on September 6, to cycle and row around the world in 18 months, crossing 26 countries, cycling 18,000 miles and rowing 14,000 nautical miles. Follow him on laptheworld.com