Adventurous friends Simon Ager and Stewart McInnes have climbed five mountains in 11 days and raised £5,000 for charity in the process.

Mr Ager, 23, and Mr McInnes, 19, from Silver Street, Minety, travelled to the Cotopaxi National Park in Ecuador on December 5, climbing peaks of 15,000 feet.

Together with three other trekkers, the pair returned safely on Christmas Eve.

Mr Ager said: "Each day we left at 6am and got back well after dark. The highlight about the trek for me was the technical nature of the climbing. We were climbing near vertical gulleys and reaching the summit was very difficult.

"Our task was made even harder by the fact that we were struggling to breathe, and the rock face was only held together by mud and volcanic ash. It felt very much like a lunar trail, but at the end of it all we were tired but happy."

The duo undertook the challenge to raise money for the charity Search and Rescue Assistance for Disasters.

It is hoping to raise £12,000 for a sensitive listening device that will enable rescuers to pinpoint victims trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Mr Ager said the charity's work has become paramount given the death toll in the Asian earthquake disaster.

Two of the team that climbed with him are planning to fly to Indonesia to operate a water filtration unit that can provide 20,000 litres per hour.