IF you think it's been a bit chilly recently, spare a thought for 22-year-old Toby Williams, who spent an afternoon in minus 25 degrees Centigrade temperatures training for an expedition to the South Pole.

The former Ermysted's Grammar School pupil from Bolton Abbey is hoping to become the youngest Briton to reach the pole and is following the route of Captain Scott's famous but ill-fated journey to the South Pole.

This week, he joined two other medical students on the Graduate Entry Programme at St George's, University of London, and spent the afternoon in one of the giant freezers in St George's Hospital canteen in preparation for the extreme conditions they will face.

The team, which hope to reach the South Pole unsupported, used their time in the freezer to test some of their equipment as well as get a feel for the extreme temperatures in the Antarctic.

The freezer was set to minus 25 degrees - still about 25 degrees warmer than the most severe temperatures they can expect to experience on their expedition.

The trio, collectively known as Extreme South, plan to follow the route taken by Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Edward Wilson, a St George's Alumni. They will undertake the trek unguided and unsupported and will be relying totally on skills gained over the years and on training expeditions.

However Mr Williams, who is with the Royal Army Medical Corps, is fully aware of the fate of Captain Scott and his colleagues - they died huddled in a tent as food ran out and conditions worsened.

"While we are following in Captain Scott's footsteps on the way there, we won't be coming back the same way," he said. "We'll carry straight on to Patriot Hills, which is where all the logistics will be based."

The three will be dragging their own sledges and are practising by wearing harnesses attached to tyres and dragging them round the parks of London - which is drawing a few puzzled stares.

Like Captain Scott the group are involved in a race against time. For Scott his race was to beat rival Roald Admundsen; for Toby Williams it is to reach the pole by the end of January which would make him the youngest Britain to do so.

"Personally it does not really bother me but it is good for the news angle and keeps us concentrated on the goal," he said.

First though they have to raise about £250,000 to fund the support teams which will be on standby to rescue them if things go wrong. Then they aim to raise another £250,000 for a diabetes charity as expedition leader Robert Conway is a diabetic.

They will be using the experience to test the diabetic effects of working in such extreme conditions.

As medical students Mr Williams, Mr Conway and the third member of the team, Doug Orr, are fully aware of the dangers they face. Frostbite is the major enemy but Mr Williams said he fully intended to come back with all his fingers and toes intact.

"It is about being careful and being prepared," he said.