Clifton doctor Ed Coats has reached the halfway stage in his race to the South Pole.

Ed and team mates Ben Fogle and James Cracknell are in second place in the race, four hours behind a Norwegian team.

Speaking on a satellite phone from the middle of the Antarctic, after skiing 232 miles in nine days, Ed said that despite blisters and losing three toenails, he and the team were in good spirits.

"Now we have reached half way, the end is in sight," said Ed, 28, a junior doctor at Southmead Hospital. "Every step from here is a step back home, back to Clifton, back to Bristol, back to my friends and family and back to my girlfriend.

"It's been very tough so far, but absolutely amazing."

Television presenter Ben Fogle is the fittest of the team after nine days on the ice. Ed's main problem is the large blisters on his feet, while double-Olympic champion James Cracknell has blisters and also a chest infection, for which Ed has put him on antibiotics.

"One of the reasons that Ed was chosen out of more than 600 applicants to join Team Qinetiq was because of his medical skills.

He has also swum the Channel and represented Great Britain at the decathlon.

The team skied for 40 hours without any sleep to reach the halfway checkpoint and were due to continue the Amundsen Omega3 South Pole Race at 3pm yesterday.

Ed said: "We have struggled at times, but it's quite humbling to be out in a place that's as unique as this and that so few people have visited or will ever visit. The cold is extreme, what we are doing would be tough in any conditions let alone at minus 40. We are skiing with icicles hanging off our beards.

"There have been times when I have wanted to throw in the can. On day four I was at my lowest but James and Ben between them got me through it.

"In our minds now is getting to the South Pole, getting to the finish. We have not come down here for a guided tour, this is a race.

"I may have lost three toenails, but I have still got seven left."