A dad whose daughter was born prematurely will ride 2,500 miles across the Moroccan desert to raise money in her honour.

Barnet dad Ben Dillon will be hoping to raise £10,000 while facing 35 degree heat, camping in the desert at night, sandstorms, scorpions and snakes.

Mr Dillon, a film and TV action vehicle supervisor is taking the trip after being helped by the charity when his daughter Nancy was born at 26 weeks.

He said: “I still remember just how terrifying it was driving behind the ambulance in the dead of night through London knowing that my daughter was inside.

“She was so small and fragile when she was born and we were terrified about what was going to happen to her.

“The worst part was not knowing all the facts and what was ahead of us.

“My partner Victoria couldn’t be discharged herself so the first 48 hours I was taking photos and relaying information back to her which was very hard for her too.”

Complications around arriving so early also meant that Nancy had problems with both her heart and liver and a condition called Necrotising Enterocolitis.

She had to be fed intravenously for several days to rest her abdomen and recovered.

Ben will be joined on his Moroccan adventure by Chris Gibbs whose son Alfred was also born prematurely at Barnet and immediately hospitalised for severe jaundice.

The motorbike rally will take the team from Tangier to South Morocco, across the Atlas Mountains, deserts and back.