FIREFIGHTERS climbed the height of Mount Everest yesterday afternoon - without leaving Ipswich town centre.

Lizzie Parry

FIREFIGHTERS climbed the height of Mount Everest yesterday afternoon - without leaving Ipswich town centre.

The 18 volunteers from the town's Princes Street and Colchester Road stations traversed a rescue ladder pitched against the Town Hall to scale the total height of the world's tallest mountain.

In order to reach the “summit” at 8,848m, 520 climbs of the 17-metre high hydraulic ladder were needed, with the firefighters entering the building and coming down the Town Hall stairs ready to start their next ascent.

Their gruelling climb took just over two hours to complete, quicker than originally predicted.

Jim Golder, watch manager at Colchester Road station, and event organiser, said: “It was an excellent event - we all really enjoyed it and the public were great, we had lots of really positive support, especially all the children, they loved it.

“The weather was good for us, had it been really hot and sunny I think we would have suffered. We all had a sweat on, it was really humid inside and it really got the legs burning - it was hard work.”

Ipswich mayor David Hale said: “It is a wonderful event. As an ex-firefighter, I was asked to support the bid and I hope it captured people's imaginations.”

The charities chosen to benefit from the fundraiser were The Firefighters' Charity and East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), the two good causes Mr Hale nominated to support during his mayoral year.