A NORTH-EAST student is to tackle some of the most inhospitable places on earth - in a family hatchback.

Graduate Phil McNerney plans to drive a car more used to the supermarket shopping trip through 16 countries all the way back to the Korean factory where it was built.

Along the way he will brave earthquakes, wars, boiling hot temperatures, the threat of terrorist attacks and even the SARs epidemic.

Phil, a 25-year-old IT graduate, from the University of Sunderland got involved in the trip while thinking of ways to get to China to start a Sunderland Abroad programme - a six to 12-month scheme teaching English as a foreign language.

His co-driver in the near standard Daewoo Kalos will be Richard Meredith, who sells the Korean cars in the UK.

Although basically standard, the Kalos has certain modifications, including strengthened suspension and underside protection, which are vital to ensure its survival on some of the world's most unfriendly road surfaces. It also has enlarged fuel capacity.

A state-of-the-art satellite communications system will enable Phil and Richard, 52, from Buckingham, to indicate their precise location at any time. They will use a tri-band telephone and laptop to send regular progress reports home.

The trip is also a fund-raising exercise for the international child welfare organisation SOS Children's Villages.

The timetable will take them to Antwerp, Paris, Milan, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Athens, Beijing and Seoul.

Speaking from Paris last night, Phil said: "Travelling through Europe should be relatively easy - it's going through Asia that is slightly worrying.

"We will be on our own then. That's going to be a real test."