A NORTY Yorkshire man is swapping the warmth of an office for the bracing conditions of the South Atlantic.

Chris Luker, the northern regional technical manager for Morrison Construction, has been appointed as regional manager for the firm's niche operations in the South Atlantic, based at Stanley in the Falklands Islands.

Chris will head a small team managing Morrison's civil engineering and building business in the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. Among its projects is the construction a research station for the British Antarctic Survey on a moving ice sheet, where temperatures plummet to minus 50 degrees centigrade and sea ice prevents access for nine months of the year.

Chris, 42, of Cawood, said: "It will be good to get away from all the hustle and bustle working in a city and enjoy the wildlife and outdoor lifestyle.

"A change is as good as a rest, as they say!"

Updated: 10:52 Tuesday, June 14, 2005