A SUSSEX woman today completed a 695-mile trek to the South Pole and claimed a double first for the record books.

Property developer Pom Oliver, 46, from Billingshurst, was one of five women

who completed the historic journey.

A member of their back-up team, communications manager Julian Mills said the women were

"very cheerful" at having made

the trek.

They are the first British

all-woman expedition to walk to the South Pole, which is 9,500ft up on the Antarctic plateau.

The group is also the first

all-female expedition to reach both Poles - the women conquered the North Pole as members of a

20-member all-women relay team in 1997.

Their first call from the ice today was to be to the Prince of Wales, patron of the expedition, who met the women in London before they set off.

They will eat his Duchy Original biscuits in celebration, raise the Union Jack and sing the National Anthem.

They will then speak to family and friends using the BT satellite phone which has kept them in touch throughout the expedition.

The team left Hercules Inlet,

on the edge of Antarctica, on November 24 and has been battling freezing winds and snow dunes up to 10ft high.

The women, pulling all their food and equipment on sledges twice their weight, have tackled the Antarctic wastes without a guide, and with just a single re-supply, on January 3.

Caroline Hamilton, 35, from London led the expedition and she and Pom were joined by Zoe Hudson,

32, a sports physiotherapist from Leeds, the Queen Mother's great niece, 38-year-old writer Rosie Stancer, from Prague in the Czech Republic, and Ann Daniels, 32, from Yeovil, Somerset.

During their trek the women have been collecting meteorological, physiological and

scientific data which should contribute to a better understanding of the female body in extreme conditions.

The team is also raising awareness and funds for its designated charity, Special Olympics UK, the UK's largest sports charity.

During the expedition Pom fell through the ice and dislocated a shoulder but despite the pain battled the last 100 miles to the finish.

Mother of triplets Ann Daniels, 32, from Yeovil, Somerset, had no outdoor experience before setting out on the North Pole trip, during which she also fell through the ice.

The women were allowed to take a single luxury item each. Pom chose a tapestry, while others took nail scissors, perfume and a sheet of poetry.

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