Trekker claims South Pole record

Ms McKeand pulled a sledge weighing 220lb (100kgs)

An adventurer from Berkshire has claimed to have made the fastest solo, unsupported trek to the South Pole.

Hannah McKeand, 33, from Newbury, set off on the 690-mile (1,110km) trip from the edge of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole on 19 November.

She completed the challenge on Thursday after 39 days and nine and a half hours - beating the record by two days.

Ms McKeand said she hopes the expedition will raise more than £10,000 for charity.

With the end in sight Ms McKeand said: "For the first time in the journey I think, there is a tiny part of me that doesn't want it to end.

"The little crazy part that got my into this in the first place, the part that could just go on and on, skiing into the white and into the blue."

Ms McKeand, who runs a sailing company with partner David Pryce, faced temperatures of -35C (-31F) while dragging a sledge weighing 100 kilos (220lbs) across the snow and ice.

Her father, Ian, told BBC News: "She's doing it and we can't stop her, not that I would want to really, I know it's in her blood and we're just incredibly proud and incredibly excited."

Ms McKeand is raising money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer in memory of her friend Jill Fraser, who died of cancer earlier this year.

The record for the challenge, Hercules Inlet to the Geographic South Pole, had stood at 41 days and eight hours, set by 37-year-old Fiona Thornewill in 2004.