WORKING in a freezer at a creamery every day simply is not cold enough for Allan Thomas - that's why he's off to spend two-and-a-half years in the Antarctic.

The 31-year-old has left his job at Express Creamery in Northallerton to work at the British Antarctic Survey's immense Halley Research Station.

The electrician, originally from Redcar, says he will have no bother putting this year's supply of Christmas woolly socks to good use.

Mr Thomas will utilise the skills he has learned maintaining the cold store at the Northallerton creamery to make sure the research centre's power supply, vital for the survival of the 16-man research team, is in good condition.

The former pupil at Saltscar, now West Redcar, School in Redcar will be part of an elite team of scientists and technicians at the world-famous research centre. The findings of the Halley centre were broadcast around the world when the research team discovered the hole in the ozone layer in 1985.

Mr Allan, who is single, was due to set off on a three-week voyage to the South Pole, via the Falklands, yesterday. He will spend six months with the same few people without a break.

He said: "The temperatures at the blast tunnel at the creamery went down to minus two but in the Antarctic they go below and never rise above zero. Wind speeds can easily touch 100mph.

"My mum cried when I moved 30 miles away to Northallerton and now I'm travelling 11,000 miles. We'll be about 10km from the nearest penguin, which is why you're chosen on your ability to get on with people as much as your technical ability.

"I want to go because it's the last unpopulated place on the planet. very few people have been there and I want to see the auroras of the southern skies."