AN ADVENTURER is to make another daring attempt to become the fifth person ever to sleep on a treacherous rocky islet in the north Atlantic.

In 2008, Andy Strangeway, of Full Sutton, near Pocklington, had to abandon his ambition to land and sleep on Rockall – a remote, uninhabited 70ft high rock at the most westerly point of Europe.

The 44-year-old was thwarted by a vicious swell around the rock, which could carry a person 20ft up or down.

But now Andy is getting ready to launch another bid in June – and this time he has an extra motive.

The self-employed decorator is determined to replace a plaque that was laid on behalf of the Queen by members of an expedition to Rockall in 1955.

Andy said the plaque was a symbolic gesture of the UK’s ownership of the rock, with the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Ireland also laying a claim to Rockall.

He said: “I am determined to create British history, but, more importantly, to re-establish the UK’s symbolic claim to Rockall by re-erecting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s plaque where it rightly belongs.”

Andy said he had obtained the Government’s permission to replace the plaque and was now securing planning permission from the Western Isles Council.

Rockall is about 25 metres wide at its base, rising to about 22 metres, with a small ledge of 3.5 by 1.3 metres, four metres from the summit.

Andy, who became the first person to land and sleep on all 162 of the islands off the Scottish coast that are larger than 40 hectares, said: “Being in such an isolated location, over 180 miles from the nearest land, the sea state can change in minutes, and as Rockall lies outside the air sea rescue zone, all of these conditions combine to make it the most difficult island in the world to sleep on.”

He is planning to make two separate sailings to Rockall, with the first week-long expedition leaving the port of Oban in Scotland, on June 18, while a second venture will depart on June 26.

Andy is inviting fellow adventurers to join him on the trip, and berths costing £1,795 per person are available for both sailings.

For more information, email Andy at info@island-man.co.uk