A former model cycled 300 miles in aid of stray dogs despite a painful slipped disc.

Victoria Eisermann, whose TV credits include Big Brother 13 and the game show Total Wipeout , cycled eight hours a day to complete her trip from Taunton to Lands’ End and on to St Ives.

The 43-year-old, of Rudgwick, Horsham, has had a slipped disc for several years but has been told by doctors that she is too young to be operated on.

She said: “I’ve never done anything like this before in my life. The furthest I’ve ever cycled before was around Richmond Park in London, which is about nine miles.

“I had shooting pains in my lower back for most of the ride but I kept going thinking of all those poor dogs. I wasn’t going to let them down.”

So far she has raised £3,800, with donations still coming in. The money will go towards a campaign to spay stray dogs in Romania.

The campaign is run by K-9 Angels, a charity Mrs Eisermann helped set up in November 2011 to help stray dogs around the world.

Since then it has raised more than £120,000 and re-homed more than 600 dogs.

Mrs Eisermann is flying to Romania to visit a shelter set up by the charity and to make an appearance on Romanian television.

In the capital city Bucharest there is an average of one stray dog for every 31 people.

It costs about £16.60 to spay one female and the money raised by Mrs Eisermann’s charity ride is enough to sterilise nearly 230 dogs.

K-9 Angels also provides links between people wishing to adopt a dog in the UK and dog rescuers in countries such as Thailand.

To donate visit Uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Victoriaeisermann