Female explorer announces solo Pole bid

FOUR women have tried and failed, but an explorer who enjoys manicures and sassy dresses yesterday announced her bid to be the first woman to trek solo to the North Pole.

Christina Franco, of Notting Hill, west London, will brave blizzards, polar bears and temperatures of minus 50C in her attempt to make history and reach the geographical Pole.

To launch her bid, she skied down Oxford Street yesterday in snowy central London provoking a flurry of mobile phone pictures taken by passers-by.