Londoner Tom Avery arrived at the South Pole on Saturday following a 702-mile trek across the Antarctic.

But 23-year-old Andrew Cooney, from Nottinghamshire, is on course to reach the Pole on Thursday with five other expedition members.

And if he makes it through the final leg of his 730-mile journey he will take the record.

Youngest to the pole

I'm still set to be the youngest person to walk to the pole Andrew Cooney

Mr Cooney, who recently completed a leisure management degree at Southampton Institute, told BBC Radio Nottingham he was still on course to break to the record.

Speaking via satellite phone, he said: "Although they have beaten us to the pole, they have done it by completely different means.

"They haven't really broken any records and I'm still set to be the youngest person to walk to the pole."

Wind chill

Mr Cooney, a Scout leader and a Territorial Army lieutenant at Grantham in Lincolnshire, set off on the ice on 11 November.

On the expedition he has had to endure altitude sickness and a painful shoulder after slipping and falling in the snow.

Tom Avery spent six weeks on his trek

The trek has taken him to an altitude of 9,000ft with wind chill temperatures dropping as low as minus 52C.

Mr Cooney spent Christmas Day walking in freezing winds with only a cold Christmas pudding and a Christmas cake made by his mother Marilyn as festive food to celebrate.

His father Terry Cooney, 53, from Thurgarton, near Nottingham, who keeps in touch via satellite phone, said his son was still in high spirits.

The family were forced to plough £30,000 into the expedition after a sponsor withdrew at the last moment.

Mr Cooney's fellow expedition members are Graham Stonehouse, from London, and Spaniards Guillermo Banales and Angel Naves.

They are being led by renowned woman explorer Matty McNair, leader of the first women's expedition to the Geographic North Pole, along with assistant guide Devon McDiarmid.