A visually impaired man from Letchworth is set to run the TCS London Marathon this weekend.

The event will begin at 9.30am on Sunday, October 2, and will see participants run 26.2 miles.

This year, Nick Kyriacou - a 26-year-old with oculocutaneous albinism and nystagmus - will compete to raise money for the Sense disability charity.

The medicinal chemist's rare conditions cause light sensitivity and involuntary shaking of the eye.

Nick was born with these conditions, however, at age eight he was also diagnosed with an eye condition called uveitis. This causes pain and changes to vision.

Despite almost losing his sight on several occasions, Nick is hoping to complete his first marathon in under four and a half hours.

He now lives with reduced vision and his visual impairment means he struggles to see distant objects and must get very close to see certain things, such as words on his laptop screen. This will be Nick’s first time running a marathon, and he is aiming to complete it in under four and a half hours.

He said: "Completing a marathon has always been on my ‘life list’ of things to do, but I found myself constantly saying I'd do it next year.

"At the start of the year, I decided to throw away this mentality and just commit to running the London Marathon.

“Being visually impaired myself I can really appreciate the work that Sense does to support the deafblind community, as well as those with other complex disabilities, to experience and communicate with the world.

"I’m excited for the marathon and want to thank everyone who has supported me and my fundraising.”

The keen runner has already raised £690 for Sense, via his JustGiving page.

The charity's chief executive, Richard Kramer, said: "We’re delighted to have Nick joining us as a member of Team Sense and look forward to cheering him on at the London Marathon.

"The money Nick is raising for Sense will go towards our work supporting those who are deafblind and have complex disabilities.”

The national Sense charity works to help thousands of people with complex disabilities to live life to the fullest.

For more information about Sense, or to donate, go to sense.org.uk.