A NORTH-EAST father-of-two has made it to the top of one of the world's most challenging mountains in Antarctica, it was revealed tonight.

Steve Graham, from Darlington, made the announcement while trapped in his tent at base camp in a severe storm in temperatures of -40 degrees.

The self-employed heating engineer reached the summit of Mount Vinson six months after becoming the only Darlington man to conquer Everest.

In a telephone message to journalist Peter Barron, Steve said: "Hi Pete, it's just Steve, phoning you from the cell phone from Antarctica. Stuck in here at Vinson base camp at the moment. We've a pretty bad storm so it's gonna have to be brief. Managed to summit on Wednesday. Beautiful weather. Two half-decent days of weather while I've been here. Now we're completely trapped in our tents in about -40 until flights are allowed to come in and out of Antarctica again. Catch up with you when I get back. Take care. Bye."

When he climbed Everest, Steve raised more than £15,000 for local and national charities, including St Teresa’s Hospice and Prostate Cancer UK.

He is supporting those causes again in his latest expedition, which is supported by Darlington Building Society, JT Atkinson Building Supplies, Anthony Jones Properties and Videcon. He planned to plant a flag at the top of the mountain, bearing the logos of his charities and the companies supporting him.

Before setting off, he called in at St Teresa’s in Darlington to be presented with an “Excellent Supporter – Worldwide Fundraising Award” by hospice chief executive Jane Bradshaw.

Jane said: “Steve’s achievements are amazing and yet he is so unassuming. He stands a million feet tall in my eyes and we are so grateful for all his support.”

Caroline Darnbrook, Marketing Director of Darlington Building Society, said: “Steve is a credit to himself, his family, Darlington and the whole North-East. We are proud to be supporting Steve in his latest expedition and look forward to exploring ways to work with him in the future.”

The adventurer’s nickname is “Seven Summit Steve” because his ambition is to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Mount Vinson, which stands at 16,000 feet, is the sixth, leaving just the Cartenz Pyramid, in Papua, for him to conquer.