TWIN brothers who trying to retrace Sir Ernest Shackleton's trek across Greenland's polar ice cap to raise money for a paralysed Harrogate girl have been forced to end their challenge.

Hugo and Ross Turner, 25, started the trek to raise funds to help 12 year old Bel Young walk again, but the pair have been airlifted from the ice after Arctic blizzards and injuries blighted their plans.

The pair, from Devon, said they were crushed and dejected by the blow, but felt they had little option but to stop and leave the extreme environment.

A blizzard left Hugo in excruciating pain with knee injuries earlier in the week.

In a blog update on their website yesterday, Hugo and Ross said they and their expert polar guide George Bullard spent an agonising 48 hours considering their options, but eventually decided to abandon their trek after warnings from American military personnel training nearby.

Bel, 12, lost ability to move from the neck down after slipping while playing on a climbing frame in a neighbour's garden.

Now confined to a wheelchair, she relies on a breathing apparatus and is given round-the-clock care from her mother, Vanessa.

A host of celebrities have queued up to back the twins' mission, including actor Sir Kenneth Branagh, explorers Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Bear Grylls and David Mayer de Rothschild.