GAZETTE & HERALD: ALICIA Hempleman-Adams is home safe and sound from a major expedition but only after her explorer father David, nearly mounted a rescue operation.

Alicia's family at home in Box, were fearing the worst for four days when they hadn't heard from her.

Her father tried calling her every day, three times a day and was in the process of hiring equipment to set out and find the group when they appeared at the finish line quicker then planned.

Calm Alicia, a Stonar School pupil said the group was fine and they never once thought they wouldn't make it, despite the dreadful weather conditions.

"There was quite a lot of wind so the satellite couldn't pick up the signal and because it was cold the battery ran down," she said.

"We were a strong team. We did save a bit of battery in case, but we were quite confident nothing would happen."

The 15-year-old finished her three-week expedition across the freezing reaches of North Canada's Baffin Island on Monday two days ahead of schedule.

Alicia is now the the youngest person to traverse the polar route of Baffin Island on foot.

Her father has completed the same trek twice before, but Alicia beat his time by a day.

Mr Hempleman-Adams said: "I'm extremely proud, of course. I always wanted her to enjoy it. I am very proud - and slightly miffed. She took a day off the time I did it. Of course she had much better skis than I have got."

Alicia became the youngest person to have reached the North Pole when she collected her father from one of his record breaking trips when she was eight.

Alicia and her companions Ed Bacon, Chris Dixon and Jo Simmons, Alicia's PE teacher, walked for around 10 hours every day in temperatures that plummeted to minus 50 degrees.

She had to pull a 60lb sledge across 200 miles of the Nunavut region to the North Pole.

They went to bed just after 7.30pm and started trekking again at 4am.

Alicia said the worst thing about the trip was not sleeping very well.