A DARING engineer has completed a remarkable feat of endurance by running for 24 hours in a hamster wheel he built himself.

Dubbed the "human hamster", design engineer Dean Ovel, of Avenue Road, Westcliff, covered more than 80 miles, raising £4,000 for the dementia appeal at Southend Hospital.

The 40-year-old, whose grandmothers both suffered from dementia, was cheered on by crowds in Southend High Street as he finished his mammoth run this lunchtime.

Speaking after the epic challenge, Mr Ovel, who survived on biscuits, hash browns and gallons of water, told the Echo how he overcame “dark moments”.

He said: “I wanted to do something a bit different, and I’m not really someone who likes big open spaces, so as well as the running, that was another test.

“There were some dark moments, especially in the early hours of the morning where I was tempted to quit.

“But I couldn’t quit after I had come that far.

“My wife came down throughout the night and supported me, and all of my friends and family cheering me on helped a lot.”

Mr Ovel told how he designed and built the wheel out of plywood with his nine-year-old son Isaac, after making a prototype out of Lego together.

He continued: “In the past I had a bit of a short fuse, and as you can imagine I have a lot of energy.

“I find running extremely calming and therapeutic, and it has helped a lot.

“I’m going to plan some more running projects which I will do for myself, then in a few more years I do another charity event.”

Hundreds of onlookers cheered him on as he approached the finished line, including his six-year-old daughter Eira and Isaac, while a live band spurred him on.

Isaac said: “I love supporting my dad when does these things, I’m really proud of him.”

The money will go to Southend’s £100,000 project to build therapeutic rooms for dementia patients.

Mr Ovel, who is the captain of the Leigh Striders running club, received “incredible support” during the event, which took place outside the Odeon in the High Street.

He added: “There were a few non-desirables who we had to move on, but other than that all of the support was incredible.

“Unfortunately my wife Sian couldn’t be here to see me pass the finish line because she had to go to a christening.

“It would be great to raise awareness and hopefully even inspire other people to raise money for charity.”

To donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/human-hamster