Two former soldiers raised £13,500 for charity by trekking hundreds of miles across the Arctic Circle.

Charlie Lacey, 37, and Laurence Dawson, 39, both of Tottenham, travelled 220 miles through northern Norway, from Tromso to Hammerfest

Mr Lacey, a retired Royal Marine who is now a minister at St Ann’s Church, said: “It was definitely a hardcore challenge. There were no easy stages as we always had something to contend with - deep snow, thick fog or impassable rivers.

He added: “There was a lot more snow than we were expecting, pretty much everything above 500m was covered.

"Some of the rivers were quite nerve-wracking to cross because they were extremely powerful, and we couldn’t cross others because the current was too strong.

“On one occasion we had to walk miles out of our way following the river to its source, an icy lake in the mountains, in order to go round it.”

The money raised will be give to Hope in Tottenham, an organisation providing youth mentoring and employment opportunities to young people.

Mr Dawson, an ultra-marathon event organiser, said the pair were “blown away” with the support they had received.

He said: “Hopefully this money will go a long way to helping local youngsters and will provide for summer activities including kayaking, horse riding and football.”