A DISABLED woman who dreamed for two decades of scaling a landmark has finally reached the peak, thanks to the kindness of a rescue team.

Although Rosemary Berks has conquered many things in her life, she never managed to climb Roseberry Topping, near Great Ayton, North Yorkshire. But to mark her 50th birthday, Mrs Berks, who had polio as a child and was left disabled, was carried to the top on a stretcher by the Cleveland Search and Rescue team.

Mrs Berks, from Cockfield near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, said she had wanted to climb the hill ever since she moved to the region 20 years ago.

She took her children, Mark and Lisa, there but could only watch as they ran up the hill and back again.

After her trip this week, she said: "It was breathtaking, I didn't have any expectations, I just wanted to get to the top. But when I looked at the view it was amazing, you could see 360 degrees."

Mrs Berks was joined by her son Mark, 29, and husband Graham, 42. Her daughter Lisa, 28, was unable to join them as she is pregnant.

Mrs Berks said: "It is going to be my first grandchild and we are very excited, so I took the scan of the baby up with me."

David Bunch, medical officer of the rescue team, said: "It is of mutual benefit. We get to train in our handling both up and down the hill.

"And for Rosemary it is something really big. If you're an outdoor person you get used to being on Roseberry Topping.

"But I was really amazed how important it was and how thrilled she was to get this opportunity."