GLOBETROTTER Darren Bates has got the "hitch" again.

The Leigh Centurions' rugby league fan is off to Italy to thumb his way back from the ancient Coliseum in Rome to Leigh's Coliseum home ground.

And he is inviting sponsors to pay £1 a time to guess how long his trek will take to raise money to help keep talented young players at the club.

The 34-year-old welder at Barlo radiators in Leigh is a keen rugby supporter and has hitch-hiked through 59 countries in 18 years.

"It's something I started doing when I was 16, I'd thumb lifts to Barrow and Hull to watch Leigh, and around the country watching rock bands, then I started going a bit further," said Darren, of Glebe Street, Leigh, who has a two-year-old daughter, Bobbi-Anne.

A couple of years ago, he hitched to all 17 places named Leigh in England and raised £1,100 for Leigh East ARLFC.

Darren has thumbed his way through California, cadged rides through his favourite country, Canada, and been amazed at the friendliness of the people of Lithuania where he was treated "like royalty".

For his latest venture, he will fly to Rome in September and after half-a-day sightseeing, he will ring LISA (Leigh Independent Supporters' Association). The stopwatch will start as he leaves The Coliseum.

He said: "I'll keep in touch and take photos along the way. I'll pass over the French Alps, the Swiss Alps, through Geneva, Genoa, along the Mediterranean coast, through Dijon, I'll skirt around Paris and visit Troyes and Valence then take the ferry from Calais to Dover where I'll start hitching again.

"When I get to Winwick Island, off the M6 I'll probably be taking my last lift to Leigh."

He aims to camp where possible but says he will call at youth hostels if he needs a good rest and a wash. He said: "It won't be too bad when I'm following the Mediterranean coast where I can take a dip and I can always bathe in rivers - the last thing you want is to get in somebody's car and they wind the windows down!

"I'm hoping to raise funds to put in the LISA kitty to try to ensure there is enough money to try to keep talented young players at their local club."

Sponsorship forms will be available from LISA representatives and at the club shop.