AN 80-year-old anti-war campaigner from Bolton has completed an 80-mile walk in protest at Britain’s continuing presence in Afghanistan.

Malcolm Pittock, from Breightmet, was one of 15 protesters from across the country to complete the Trail of Tears for Afghanistan walk from the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall to the gates of the Military Correction Centre in Colchester.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton is currently imprisoned in the centre for speaking out against the war and refusing to return to Afghanistan.

Mr Pittock, a former English lecturer at the Bolton Institute, who was jailed for two years in the 1950s for refusing to do national service, said: “The point of our walk was to call attention to the suffering and death that the war has already caused to both members of the British Armed Forces and to Afghans alike, and to call for the withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan.”

At each of the war memorials along the route, which took five days to complete, the names of a selection British and Afghan casualties were read out at half minute intervals, together with the date and details of how they were killed.

The Bishop of Brentwood, Thomas McMahon, a vocal opponent of the war, spoke during the group’s visit to Brentwood, Mr Pittock, who is a leading member of the Bolton Stop the War group and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, says he found the walk tough.

He said: “I told the organisers that while I could not guarantee I would finish it, I would certainly start it and try my best. It was tough going because we were having to walk on narrow paths and across fields but once it got under way, I was determined to finish it.

“I ran a half marathon when I was 70 years old but there is a big difference between 70 and 80, I can tell you.”

The walk ended with a rally through Colchester, organised by the local Stop The War group.

On Monday it was claimed weakening political support for the international military mission in Afghanistan could encourage the Taliban to step up attacks on coalition forces.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the head of Nato, issued the warning while in London for talks with Prime Minister David Cameron and Defence Secretary Liam Fox and said there could be no guaranteed withdrawal date for the international troops.

Last month Mr Cameron said he hoped to bring home British troops before the expected date of the next general election in 2015.

There have been more than 1,800 coalition casualties in Afghanistan since the start of the war. andrew.greaves@ theboltonnews.co.uk