A group of young British adventurers have come under fire after local volunteer rescuers had to come to their aid three times as they attempted to trek across Iceland for a documentary.

Angus Dowie, Charlie Smith, Archie Wilson, all aged 19 and Stefan Rijnbeek, 20, had set out to be the first to 'cross Iceland unsupported in winter', with their trip to be turned into a movie.

However they were finally forced to abort the expedition on Tuesday, and yet again had to be saved, much to the chagrin of locals who fund the search and rescue units via charity donations.

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Abort mission: Stefan Rijnbeek, 20, Angus Dowie, Charlie Smith, Archie Wilson, all 19, had planned on becoming the first team to 'cross Iceland unsupported in winter', but had to be rescued

Before setting out on the journey, the four men had described the expedition, named The Coldest Crossing, as: 'four British men under the age of 21 who are attempting the first mid­winter, unsupported crossing of Iceland.

'The 18 day, 250 mile journey will be documented and shared with the world in real time as well as made into a feature film in 2016.'

The plan was to cross Iceland's central highlands and survive using only the equipment they carried with them, but had not got very far before one of them was struck by a lung infection

Mr Dowie, a geography and education student at Durham University from Exning, Suffolk, had to be picked up by Icelandic Search and Rescue (SAR) units and left the expedition.

The others carried on, but soon another SAR team was forced to come to their aid when another member of the team suffered frostbite on his toes.

Short trip: The idea was to document the journey and eventually make a feature film, but the team had to call in local search and rescue three times

Three times' a charm: After Mr Dowie had to be rescued due to a lung infection, another team member needed treatment for frostbite before a storm forced the team to call for help a third time

The unidentified injured member of the team chose to carry on despite his injuries, but a few days later, they were hit by unseasonably cold December weather.

'The conditions here are far beyond anything we could have expected,' filmmaker Renan Ozturk, who had been documenting the team's journey wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.

'And when storms like these blow sleeting wet snow and soak even our outer gortex layers, survival becomes so critical that the quality of shooting seems futile.

'But we are trying, in every pause between wind gusts, whenever we can thaw our fingertips, and often in the pitch black.'

However, shortly after Mr Ozturk's post, the entire Cold Crossing team had to be rescued a third and final time, when it was revealed they had become too cold and weak to continue.

A SAR unit had to be flown in to pick up the boys north-west of the Myrdalsjokull glacier in South Iceland on Tuesday.

Gap yah: The rescue missions to help the British boys have caused more than mild irritation in the local community, as the SAR teams are made up of volunteers and funded via charity

More like gap nah: The team of young British adventurers are pictured in the SAR unit's helicopter having had to abandon their quest on Tuesday due to a storm leaving them too cold and weak to continue

The rescue missions to help the British boys have caused more than mild irritation in the local community, as the SAR teams are made up of volunteers and funded via charity.

The SAR rescuers offer the services for free, but have pointed out that donations by the Cold Crossing team to cover the costs of the rescue would be welcomed.

A report in the local Iceland Magazine noted: "We sincerely hope they are well insured and offer to pay for the repeated local assistance, which is obviously a costly affair."

Local employers, who have to give the rescue workers time off each time there is an emergency, are also unhappy about the loss of staff for a 'TV programme'.

Team member Archie Wilson has since taken to his Instagram to defence their decision to abort the expedition.

'We prepared, mapped, trained and sought as much advice and knowledge as we could about Iceland for months,' the teenager wrote Tuesday.

'We traveled to Iceland in summer to make the crossing on foot. We spent hours with Icelandic Search and Rescue planning our route.

'We may be young, but we have years of experience. While we did not complete our expedition of crossing Iceland unsupported, we did complete our goal of inspiring so many people to get outdoors and explore.'

In the wake of the critique a spokesperson for The Coldest Crossing told MailOnline the team is planning on making a donation to ICE-SAR 'for their incredible help during this expedition'.