A 60-year-old Ludlow man has just achieved an ambition he has nursed for at least 10 years, by climbing Mont Blanc.

Bob Maddox, of St Margaret Road, reached the peak by means of the Aiguille du Midi Traverse, climbing over the shoulder of Mont Blanc, Du Tacul and Maudit on to the summit.

He was one of a party of four from Ludlow, who started their friendship when they formed a dance band, The Roads.

They are Bob, his younger brother John, Colin Jones, also 60, and Anthony Luck, who is in his 40s.

Bob said: "We took to mountaineering a few years ago, first in places like Snowdonia and then progressing to the Alps and the Dolomites.

"On the Mont Blanc climb, it was ice and snow climbing all the way.

" We started out from the mountain rescue hut, climbing from about 1am, and it was a six-and-a-half-hour climb to the summit.

"When we were in the hut, Colin felt ill and I came back down to Chamonix with him.

"My brother and Anthony did the peak that night with a guide. Conditions were bad and blowy.

"I went up the next day with a guide, in conditions that were good and calm, and reached the summit.

"It's classed as a not very technical climb, but it's gruelling nevertheless, crossing crevasses and a bad sheet of ice on Maudit."

The climbers wore high-altitude clothing and used boots, ropes, crampons and ice-axes.

Bob has already done many climbs in the Alps, including the Breithorn, Laggenhorn, Allalinhorn, Castor, Weissmies and Pollux, all over 4,000ms, plus climbs in the Dolomites.

The party drove to Chamonix, in France, and spent two weeks in the area.

Before they tackled Mont Blanc, they first did some climbs from Zermatt, on the Swiss side, to get acclimatised.

Bob is a self-employed carpenter and his wife, Shirley, works in the maternity unit at Ludlow Hospital.

They have a son, Ryan and daughter Tracy.

Bob, who has wanted to climb Mont Blanc for at least 10 years, said: "I am pretty chuffed.

The others in the party are all local. John, also a carpenter, lives in Diddlebury. Anthony, a Ludlow man, now lives at Orleton. Colin used to live in Lower Broad Street but now lives in Birmingham.

What's the next big ambition? "I don't know," said Bob. "My wife thinks that's enough."