A Sussex man has become the youngest Briton to reach the South Pole on foot.

Adventurer Tom Avery, 27, who lives with his family at Ticehurst Road, Hurst Green, near Robertsbridge, said the achievement was a childhood dream come true.

He suffered frostbite to his face from the bone-numbing temperatures as constant Antarctic winds averaged 30mph during the 702-mile trek.

After reaching his target on Saturday, Mr Avery said: "Coming to the South Pole is a dream I have had since I was about eight. To finally achieve it is indescribable."

He said he and his team-mates Patrick Woodhead, 27, from London, Paul Landry, 45, a Canadian, and Andrew Gerber, 28, a South African, were fit and well but "pretty bushed" after the trek, which saw them walk for 700 miles and climb more than 10,000ft.

Mr Avery, a former pupil at Vine Hall School near Robertsbridge, and his colleagues celebrated their arrival by phoning family and friends.

He said: "We have some wine and we will be catching up on some sleep. Andrew and I have some frostbite on our faces but all fingers and toes are intact.

"We have been remarkably lucky and are fit and well."

Mr Avery, a finance director for a ski firm in London, said weather conditions were good for the final stretch of the expedition.

His father Julian, 57, said the achievement was a mark of his son's "adventurous spirit".

The four men were due to be picked up by a twin-engine Otter aircraft yesterday and taken back to base camp at Patriot Hills in the Antarctic.

They are due back in England on January 19.