THE annual Jaguar E-Type Round Britain Coastal Drive will pass through Chelmsford, as the 4,000 mile event raises funds for Prostate Cancer UK.

Now in its third year, the 19-day event starts on Monday at Pendine Sands, before Chelmsford hosts stage 14 of the event.

£150,000 has already been raised for charity so far by classic car owners and their supporters.

The tour around the coartline of the British mainland was originally created in 2016 to raise funds for the leading men’s health charity Prostate Cancer UK, and Don has kindly agreed to support the event after recently undergoing successful treatment.

The 2018 Coastal Drive aims to add a further £70,000 to the £150,000 already raised for the important charity in the event’s first two years in operation.

The Round Britain Coastal Drive was devised in 2016 by E-type Club co-founder Philip Porter, the renowned automotive book publisher and author, after he was successfully treated for the disease.

Philip said: “The aim was to give E-type Club members a great driving event at the same time as raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK, and awareness of the disease.

“It was meant to be a one-off event but proved so popular that we’re now running it for the third consecutive year.

“We have cars and crews coming from abroad, including the States, and even have people who have bought an E-type so they can take part.”

The event comprises 19 individual stages, each of approximately 180 miles distance, and will be driven sequentially by groups of Jaguar E-types in the style of a relay.

Most entrants choose to drive one, two or three legs, but this year six crews have committed to driving the whole way round.

From Pendine, the Round Britain Coastal Drive will go as far north as John O’Groats and as far south as Land’s End taking in Lancashire, Cumbria, Ross and Cromarty , Sutherland, Ayrshire, Inverness, Dundee and Angus, Edinburgh, Northumberland, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Essex, Sussex, Hampshire, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset before concluding in the town of Tenby, on the opposite side of Carmarthen Bay to Pendine, on October 5.

The E-type Club was founded by Philip Porter and his wife Julie in 2004, this followed the successful formation of the successful XK Club seven years earlier.