IT is not every day you get to enjoy a birthday at Everest Base Camp but an intrepid woman from Moreton made an exception to celebrate a special milestone.

Sally Fay-George, of Wellington Road, trekked 5,365 metres above sea level to reach the base camp in time for her 60th birthday on March 12.

Ms Fay -George, who works as a massage and reflexology therapist in Banbury, was so inspired after two of her friends made the trip she wanted to have a go herself.

She also decided to raise money for Harrow M.S. Therapy Centre, in Middlesex, and Parkinsons Banbury as she works a lot with people suffering with the condition.

"After climbing Kilimanjaro 10 years ago, I've always loved that sort of thing and when the girls came back and showed me all the photographs and the little villages," she said.

"Everest was beautiful. It's absolutely stunning. It was tough but I very much enjoyed it. The days where very hot but the nights where freezing and the higher you got up Everest the colder the nights got.

"You have to sleep in all your clothes, gloves, hat sleeping bag and blanket and you're still cold.

"I met lots of nice people on the way up and they sang happy birthday."

Ms Fay-George, who spent six months training in the gym at the Fire Service College to prepare for her 17-day trip, left three Union Jack flags at base camp, two for the charities and one for her 97-year-old mum Queenie Hurst.

She even handed out football scarves and hats to the locals she met in the villages along the way.

"It was good fun, I would recommend it to anybody," she added.

To support Ms Fay-George's fundraising or for information on trekking to Everest, email sally.fay.george @gmail.com.