Chris Proctor with 11-year-old Vishnu, who he met on his journey

Chris Proctor, 23, set off on the 12,000 mile (19,300 kilometre) journey from Calcutta on a Royal Enfield motorcycle at the end of June.

He travelled with a colleague at the Future Hope charity, Mark Lewis.

Future Hope provides accommodation, food and education for the street children of Calcutta.

'Out of control'

The pair's journey via Nepal, Kazakhstan and Russia nearly ended on the first day when the rear tyre of Mr Proctor's bike burst as he headed towards Varanasi.

"Pulling hard and topping 90km/h," he wrote on his website.

"I suddenly head a huge bang, and next thing I knew my back tyre had exploded, sending me totally out of control.

"I finally lost control with my bike slinging side on to the road and myself flying off into a ditch that, thankfully, saved a lot of skin and a very serious collision with a Tata truck."

The roads were so bad that their exhausts kept falling off and their racks, which were designed to carry 10 litres of fuel, kept collapsing.

We were home, back with familiar faces, and most importantly safe Chris Proctor

When they reached Poland, the bikes had been "beaten into the ground, punished beyond belief with the stresses of the load and road conditions encountered from India".

And as they entered London, they still had "serious doubts" that the bikes would make it all the way.

"In the back if our minds knew we had no more spare inner tubes," said Mark.

"Another flat tire and we'd have been stranded."

However, the bikes lasted all the way up The Mall, where friends and colleagues gave them a big welcome home.

Mr Proctor said: "For me, personally, it was a moment of reflection on how far we had come, from the initial idea and dream, to seeing friends and family cheering us on as we came up to Buckingham Palace.