Paul Ward, of Eldred Drive, is one of four Suffolk officers setting out to ride west to east, from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast.

The quartet plan to do the trip in a relay, cycling 100 miles each a day, sharing the 4,295 miles and crossing three time zones.

Sgt Ward will be joined by colleagues Neil Smith, Jeff Cribb and Laura Hicks to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Charity and East Anglia Children's Hospices.

"We hope to raise several thousand pounds on this ride," said traffic policeman Sgt Ward. "The more we achieve the better."

The team have been training for a year but Sgt Ward's preparation was set back by a crash in November, in which he broke his elbow and hand.

Nevertheless he is confident that he and his colleagues will complete the route known as Trans-America, from Coos Bay, Oregon, to Yorktown, Virginia.

The route includes desert and mountains, passing the Rockies, Yellowstone National Park and crossing the Mississippi River.

"We've all had to step up training in recent months, increasing the distances we ride every day," Sgt Ward said.

"I had a crash in November and broke my elbow and hand so training was disrupted for quite a while.

"It is important now that we all stay healthy and we are just hoping that nothing like that happens again and gets in the way of the trip."

The group cycled 1,800 miles from Canada to Mexico, in 2002 and 2005, raising £32,000.

They will be joined this year by police officers and friends they met in the United States during the first two events.