A South African man has been arrested in Nepal while allegedly attempting to scale Mount Everest without a permit.

Ryan Sean Davy had climbed more than 20,000 feet before being stopped by authorities.

Gyanendra Shresth, a government liason officer at Everest's Base Camp, said: "I saw him alone near base camp so I approached him and he ran away.

"I followed him with my friend and found him hiding in a cave nearby. He had set up camp in an isolated place to avoid government officials."