A clean-up expedition to Mount Everest has removed 10.8 tons of rubbish and four dead bodies from the world’s highest mountain.

Cleaners spent weeks collecting food wrappings, cans, bottles and empty toxic cylinders, Nepal Tourism Department official Danduraj Ghimire said.

Mr Ghimire said the four bodies were exposed by melting snow and were carried to base camp and then flown to a hospital in Kathmandu for identification.

Some of the rubbish was flown to Kathmandu and handed over to recyclers on Wednesday.

Officials claimed the mission was a success, but said more rubbish still needed to be collected.

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Officials have been unable to estimate exactly how much rubbish covers Everest. Some is covered by snow and only becomes exposed when temperatures rise.

Most of the rubbish on the mountain was at Camps 2 and 3, where climbers can rest along the way from the base camp to the 29,035ft summit.

More than 300 climbers have died on Everest since it was first conquered in 1953.

Climbers struggling to make it down alive are sometimes unable to carry the bodies of teammates who have died.

It is unclear how many bodies remain on the mountain, as officials have no records.

Some waste was taken to recyclers in Kathmandu (PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Record numbers tackling the mountain have caused dangerous “traffic jams” on the way to the summit.