Latest Teesside headlines straight to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A secondhand bulldozer, found languishing in a Guisborough yard, was used as part of a famous Antarctic expedition with Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Caterpillar's D6N was the first machine capable of crossing the Antarctic in winter, in conditions of up to minus 60 degrees.

The "mind-boggling" bit of kit has been snapped up by David Scott, of Haverton Hill firm Scott Brothers.

Far from the bitter terrain of the South Pole, the dozer will be used for the slightly less glamorous job of of mixing topsoil and repairing Teesside's roads.

David, who is a director at the family-run firm, said: "I was told 'this thing's got some history behind it, it went on an expedition in the Antarctic' and I was a bit like 'yeah whatever - course it has'.

"But after watching a few videos and checking serial numbers, I realised it was right.

"They had two storage containers made into living quarters with skis at the bottom.

(Image: PA)

"Their job was to drive these living quarters from station to station.

"You can see where the winch and all the ancilliary bits and pieces went.

"It's absolutely mind-boggling, I've always liked quirky things and anything with history to it so the stars aligned on this one."

According to manufacturer Caterpillar, the D6Ns drove the record-breaking journey in wintertime Antarctica in 2012, pulling the cabooses in temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees and surviving the treacherous trip without a single fault, leak or "system malfunction".

No machine of that type had ever been exposed to such a harsh environment - or temperatures as low.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who turns 75 this week, is often described as the world's greatest living explorer.

The adventurer, who famously lost digits to frostbite on expeditions, is the only human to have crossed Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean and climbed Everest.

According to reports, he recently said there's no money in being an explorer and he opts to sleep in his old Ford Mondeo while in London rather than pay hundreds for a hotel.