The British Polar explorer Ben Saunders gave up his quest to cross the South Pole echoing Sir Ernest Shackleton’s words that it was better to return home as a ‘live donkey’ than a ‘dead lion’.

Mr Saunders, 40, was forced to abandon his mission to cross Antarctica unassisted after ‘ferocious’ weather conditions left him without enough food to complete his journey.

He had attempted the trek in memory of his friend Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley, who died on an expedition to traverse the Antarctic alone last year.

Mr Saunders aimed to spend 65 days travelling more than 1,000 miles across Antarctica, but was forced to cancel the trip when he arrived at the South Pole on Thursday, after 52 days.