An evening newspaper editor is on top of the world after conquering the summit of the world's highest freestanding peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.

Plymouth Evening Herald editor Alan Qualtrough, (54), embarked on the challenge of a lifetime climbing the 20,000ft peak, and was delighted to reach Stella Point, the crater rim.

As part of a group of 34 walkers, Alan (pictured) has helped to raise more than £60,000 for the Plymouth-based St Luke's Hospice, as well as achieving a personal ambition.

He said: "We were split into two teams of 17, and in my team 15 of us got to the top.

"We had a spectacular success rate thanks to a great mountain guide and lots of teamwork. We put the women at the front and the strongest men at the back and we went at the pace of the slowest woman."

Over the course of five days the team made their way up the mountain, along the Machame route which is the second-most difficult but the most scenic.

The last ascent took nine hours and the team had to brave temperatures of up to minus 20C and keep altitude sickness at bay before taking another two days to get down.

The view from Stella Point

Alan said: "It was a great adventure and the most difficult thing I've ever done."

Along with the rest of the team, Alan had been preparing for the climb since January when he was approached by St Luke's.

He said: "I enjoy trekking and walking and had the kit and the inclination. It was a great way to link up a personal ambition with something for the good of the community."

And it was the community that kept him going when he was feeling low.

Alan said: "The altitude is difficult to get over and at about four hours into the last ascent my energy levels were really down, but I didn't want to let the community down and that spurred me on.

"It was a great feeling and I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

And, of course, in the finest traditions of journalism, Alan's colleagues had prepared him a commemorative front page ready for his return to work:

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