AN INTREPID entrepreneur is taking on an epic climb of Mount Everest… on his own stairs.

John Griffin is scaling the equivalent of the world’s highest peak at his family home in Shoreham.

The 53-year-old will have to complete more than 50,000 steps, and go up 1,361 times over the course of four days.

Mr Griffin had been set to launch a vegan takeaway business before the coronavirus outbreak put the plans on hold.

Now he hopes to raise money on his charity challenge at home, with the support of his wife Niri, who is a GP and his daughter Daisy.

The family’s “rather lazy” dog Houndslow may also complete some of the climbs with him, he said.

Mr Griffin is doing it to raise cash for the Trussell Trust, which supports foodbanks.

Many of them have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

He has set himself the Herculean task of raising £245,000 for the charity.

Mr Griffin said: “I was disgusted to hear that the food bank trolley had to be removed from a local Tesco as the contents were being stolen, quite possibly by people who could afford to purchase those items.

Food banks really need our support now more than ever.

“Right now we are piling a catastrophe on top of an already perilous situation.

“Walking around any supermarket today will give you an insight into how the shelves appeared to people on very low incomes before the Coronavirus pandemic hit.

“The shelves may as well be almost empty when you have very limited funds for your weekly shop. Now many of the low- cost staples like pasta and rice are not there.

To donate visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/john-griffin19.

You can watch his live stream of the challenge on his Facebook page here.