A climber who was told he would never be able climb again after he lost his fingers and toes to frostbite eight years ago, has become the first Briton to complete the 7x7 peaks challenge.

Nigel Vardy, who nearly died in 1999 while ascending Mount McKinley in Alaska, has claimed a place in the record books by scaling the seven highest peaks on the world's seven largest islands.

"Around 150 people have done this - but no one from Britain, the 38-year old Vardy said. "My family think I'm mad."

The 7x7 features mountains on Baffin Island, Greenland, Honshu, Borneo, Sumatra, New Guinea and Madagascar.