A FOUR-year-old boy who has already bagged ten of Scotland's highest mountains is on a mission to scale 284 Scottish summits before he turns 16.

Darwin Bradley, who one day hopes to throw snowballs from the top of Mount Everest, has already become an experienced mountaineer after climbing ten of the mountains, known as the Munro Peaks.

A young starter, Darwin, from Guisborough, east Cleveland, was 22 months when his parents took him up Meall Chuaich, which is 953 metres.

Eight months later, they scaled Schiehallion, which is 1,083 metres, and more followed.

This weekend, he was expected to successfully scale three more peaks - the Ben Chonzie, which is 930 metres, the Beinn a Chochuill, at 979metres, and Beinn Eunaich, at 989 metres.

Darwin, who attends Highcliffe nursery, in Guisborough, completes his treks to raise money for charity.

When he was nearly three, he scaled the Spidean Mialach, which is 996 metres and the 1,027 metre Sgurr a' Mhaoraich.

His parents, Sarah, 32, and 41-year-old Mark, who is a head warden for the National Trust, say Darwin is full of energy and never feels tired after a climb.

Mrs Bradley said: "We started walking him a lot when he was very young just to wear him out - he had really high energy levels.

"But he just loved it.

"We've always been really into walking. When he was 22 months we were on holiday and we just thought we would see if he could make in up a mountain - if he couldn't, we'd just take him off. But we did the walk for eight hours and Darwin had a sleep at the top."

The couple had booked a trip up Kilimanjaro before they found out Mrs Bradley was pregnant with Darwin. They cancelled the expedition, but now plan to do it with their son when he is about 11.

Darwin raises money for Epilepsy Action and Dreams Come True, which grants the wishes of seriously or terminally ill children.

The youngster has set his sights high - with an ambition to one day conquer Everest.

Mrs Bradley said: "He wants to go to the top and throw snowballs.

"He is really looking forward to it this weekend. He just absolutely loves it."

And Darwin's six-month-old sister, Autumn, could soon be following in his footsteps.

Mrs Bradley said: "Darwin is dying for her to go up. We just need to get a decent carrier for her."