MILLIONS of television viewers will tonight see an intrepid East Lancashire couple defy staggering odds by cycling across Europe.

Wolfram and Valerie Thome shrugged off mind-numbing pain and disability to cycle 600 miles across Britain and Europe.

Their adventure will be aired on the popular Channel Four programme, The Real Holiday Show, hosted by Gaby Roslin.

German-born Wolfram, 40, is registered blind and has one leg shorter than the other.

His 54-year-old wife has severe arthritis in her spine and was warned never to cycle again 12 years ago.

Despite their ailments, the couple, of Regent Street, Nelson, cycled to Folkestone.

They then travelled by ferry and train to Germany for a three-week stay with Wolfram's mother before hitting the road again and cycling from Germany through Belgium to France.

The seven-minute film will show a series of clips from their five-week jaunt. Valerie said: "We are looking forward to seeing the programme.

"A lot of it is just me talking about my philosophy of life.

"We went to London for the filming in the studio. Gaby Roslin talked to us briefly, but all she seemed to do was fiddle with her hair all the time."

Wolfram has two-dimensional vision and his sight has no sense of depth and distance.

A car smash when he was 17 also left one leg a quarter of an inch shorter than the other.

He led the way on the trip while Valerie shouted navigational instructions from behind.

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