A woman’s is hoping that her love of jelly babies will help her complete the London marathon later this month.

Claire Morris, from Loughton, relies on the sugary treat to boost her energy during training to prevent her Irritable Bowel Syndrome from triggering.

The 24-year-old PA is fundraising money for Bowel & Cancer Research to raise awareness of her condition by running the 26.2 miles.

“I have to watch what I eat,” said Ms Morris. “I can’t use the energy gels that other runners use. But I’ll stick to Jelly Babies and hope they get me through.

“My parents, sisters and friends will be there to cheer me on and they’ll have extra supplies.”

The keen runner is also a member of Orion Harriers in Chingford and is hoping to overtake her biggest achievement of finishing a half-marathon.

“At first the doctors said I just had stomach cramps but after tests last year IBS was confirmed,” she explained.

“I’d like to help make people more aware, not just of bowel cancer, but of the effect that other chronic bowel conditions have on people’s lives – things like IBS, Crohn’s disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

“There’s no cure and none of the drugs to relieve the symptoms really work.”

Chief Executive of Bowel & Cancer Research Deborah Gilbert thanked Ms Morris for her support. “We applaud Claire’s courage, not just in tackling the marathon, but for helping to raise awareness of bowel conditions like IBS which are truly debilitating,” she said. “We fund the best science so that there might be a cure for people like Claire in future.”

The London Marathon 2019 takes place on Sunday, April 28.

To make a donation to support Claire visit https://www.bowelcancerresearch.org/fundraisers/claire-morriss-fundraising-page