Meet the last World War Two motorcycle dispatch rider

Alan Johnson on his motorcycle. Credit: ITV Border

Alan Johnson is thought to be the last surviving British motorcycle dispatch rider from World War Two.

He spent much of the Second World War in the Egyptian desert, delivering vital messages to soldiers on the front line.

The 96-year-old, from Lorton near Cockermouth, became a dispatch rider because of his love for motorbikes - when he was a young man, his uncle used to drive him to Bolton Moors to collect heather.

This photo was taken in 1924, when Alan's uncle took him and his brother on his motorcycle. Credit: ITV Border

During the war his job was to maintain communications between the headquarters and the troops.

In 1940 he travelled to Egypt, and served in the Royal Corps of Signals for five years.

Following the war he returned to one of his other passions - art - and opened a studio in Cumbria.

His passion for motorcycles endured however, and he only hung up his crash helmet after suffering a stroke at the age of 90.

You can watch ITV Border's interview with him on Lookaround at 6pm this evening.