Sussex explorer Catherine Hartley is celebrating Easter by reaching the halfway point in her trek to the North Pole.

Miss Hartley, 35, is with Mike and Fiona Thornewill, a husband-and-wife team bidding to become the first married couple to walk to both poles.

Their four-strong expedition team is now on the 35th day of the gruelling 480-mile journey, which they hope to complete in 70 days.

Miss Hartley, of Chidham, near Chichester, reached the South Pole hand-in-hand with Mrs Thornewill in January 2000.

The quartet, raising funds for charity, have so far endured average temperatures of minus 40C, pressure ridges, thin ice and open expanses of water.

Speaking from the expedition, Miss Hartley said: "We are all working really well as a team and making outstanding progress.

"The scenery is beautiful and we are all in such good spirits."