AN INTREPID woman from Bowness has hiked to the 'roof of the world' to help raise an incredible sum for a cancer charity.

Victoria Bowe embarked on the gruelling 18 day trek across the towering Himalayas to the base camp of Mount Everest.

She undertook the hike with a party from the charity Prevent Breast Cancer in memory of her mother Shelagh Boyd, who died 20 years ago from the disease.

"Everyone who took part had been affected by breast cancer in some way, either personally or due to a member of their family," explained Victoria, 25, who was born and raised in Windermere and works at the Daffodil Hotel in Grasmere.

And the group included Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor, who plays Sally Metcalfe in the long running soap opera.

"Her character in Coronation Street had breast cancer and during the course of the storyline she herself discovered she had the disease, and she is a big supporter of the charity."

The group made a marathon air journey from Manchester via Abu Dhabi to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, and then flew on to the small town of Rammechap and finally to tiny airport at Lukla.

"It's supposed to be the most dangerous airport in the world and the runway slopes up at the end to help the plane stop, so that was quite scary," said Victoria.

But the testing part of the trip was yet to begin, and saw the party struggle for nine days at altitudes of around 5,400 metres before reaching Everest base camp and then, after a brief respite, retracing their steps back to Lukla.

"Some of us had headaches and sickness due to the altitude but I was OK though I was very tired at the end," said Victoria, who arrived back in South Lakeland last week.

But it was all worthwhile as the trek raised an astonishing £130,000 in sponsorship money, with donations still coming in.

All the money raised will help the Prevent Breast Cancer charity's work, which is focused on future generations by raising awareness of the disease and funding preventative measures such as early testing and screening.

If you want to offer a sponsorship donation in recognition of Victoria's efforts, you can do so via https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/VictoriaBowe.