A NORTH Tawton man who climbed Kilimanjaro in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care has raised £4,300.

David Ellis, 54, did the charity challenge last month and said it was exhausting but very rewarding.

He said walking on Dartmoor over the past year and playing squash twice a week had helped with the fitness but nothing could prepare him for the altitude on the mountain, which is 5,895 metres.

'The altitude gives you a constant headache and my body was spent by the end.?By then it is guts and determination that get you through, the will to want to do it. I was with an organised group and we all said we would never do anything like it again come the end but two weeks later, here we are, thinking we would quite like to.'

Mr Ellis is a cheesemaker at Taw Valley Creamery and chose to raise money for Marie Curie who helped his mother before she died three years ago.

'I also wanted to put something back into society,' he said. 'I have always travelled but climbing Kilimanjaro was a real challenge for me. I would really like to do something else whilst my legs are still going.'