A hearing expert from Rayners Lane who is preparing to take on the London Marathon to raise money for research into hearing loss has completed her first test of endurance.

Bhavisha Parmar, who works at Northwick Park and Central Middlesex Hospital, ran the Silverstone half marathon in two hours and 14 minutes on Sunday wearing a 'Super-Hear-O' outfit.

She has already raised £1,951 and hopes to hit her target of £3,000 when she takes on the full 26.2 miles of the London Marathon in April - also in costume.

For now, she is pleased that she is well ahead of her training targets.

Ms Parmar said: “It went really well. I beat my target by 15 minutes.

“It was a really good experience to complete the whole thing but the last mile was the hardest part.”

There were 6,200 participating in the half marathon around the Silverstone race track, including six-times paralympic gold medallist David Weir.

The 23-year-old said her main reason for running the marathons is raising awareness of hearing loss and how it can be prevented, as well as raising money towards research.

She said: “I’m an audiologist and I work with people who have hearing problems every day so this inspired me.

“People should take better care of their ears and go see their GP if they are having any hearing problems.”

Ms Parmar said: “I’m feeling very confident about the London marathon and hopefully I’ll be able to finish in less than five hours.”

She is also organising an 'Acoustic Unchained' music event with her friend James Selvadurai, to showcase local musical talent and raise more money.

They are expecting 80 to 90 people to attend and will be selling T-shirts and holding a raffle to help reach her fundraising target.

It will be held at Trinity, on Station Road, on March 6 and begin at 8pm.

For more information and to donate please visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/bhavishaparmar