An ex-paratrooper nearing the end of his 28-year global trek may be stopped from swimming home across the English Channel from France to England by French bureaucrats.

Karl Bushby, 57, has already been banned by Eurotunnel from walking under the sea to England, citing safety and operational constraints.

Now coastguards in France are also set to stop him swimming the last lap as well.

He set off from Chile in 1998 and has reached Belgium. Under the terms of his challenge, he is unable to use transport to reach his home city of Hull, East Yorkshire.

In June, Bushby was told by Eurotunnel bosses that his request to walk along a service tunnel had been declined due to safety and operational reasons, leaving him with no alternative but to swim.

The former paratrooper aims to attempt the swim in October, but French officials say the country ‘tolerates Channel crossing by swimming only from the UK coast to the French coast’.

Bushby said: ‘We are talking with the French coastguard.’

Referencing a 2018 ‘prefectoral order’, the French Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre confirmed the stipulation.

Karl Bushby was told by Eurotunnel bosses that his request to walk along a service tunnel had been declined due to safety and operational reasons. Bushby pictured on his walk in Panama in 2001

The former paratrooper aims to attempt the swim in October, but his attempts have been rebuffed by French officials. Karl Bushby pictured on his walk in Mexico in 2002

It said it had referred Bushby’s support team to the Channel and North Sea Maritime Prefecture, which manages the order, for them to consider.

While Bushby said he still hoped Eurotunnel bosses would have a change of heart, he is beginning to draw up plans for the Channel swim.

‘We have secured a support boat for October,’ said Bushby. ‘That’s a big thing. I would expect it to take two or three days to swim across to the UK.’

Bushby is currently in Mexico, where he retreats between stages of his challenge in order to meet visa regulations, rest and plan routes.

‘I will be back in Belgium in early September,’ he said. ‘Towards the end of that month, I expect to be in France, preparing for the swim.

‘I am not angry it has come to this. I am more disappointed. But things could still change. Walking through the service tunnel is still the preferred option.’

Bushby pictured in the early days of his challenge in Alaska in 2005

Bushby made clear the swim depends on French authorities and the weather. 

‘We are talking with the French coastguard and we hope an exception to the rule can be made,’ he said.

‘The weather is also a big factor. For a successful attempt, you need a window of good weather.’

Bushby has tackled other large expanses of water on his adventure.

In 2006, he became the first Briton to walk across the Bering Strait, the treacherous 58-mile frozen sea between North America and Russia, which involved some swimming.

And in 2024, he completed a 186-mile (300km) swim across the Caspian Sea in order to avoid Russia or Iran amid rising global tension.