A WOMAN plans to scale the world's highest active volcano to raise money for a North-East charity.

Rachel Smith, 34, is taking on her second climb for children's autism charity Daisy Chain after catching the adrenaline bug.

Mrs Smith, of Middleton St George, has signed up to climb Cotopaxi, in Ecuador, after successfully reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.

She battled high attitude, ferocious weather conditions and difficult terrain to reach the 19,000ft summit last year and is now preparing for a tougher challenge.

The fundraising group will climb the 19,347ft mountain, which is part of the chain of volcanoes around the Pacific plate known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, in September next year over a 14-day period using crampons, ice axes and rope.

Mrs Smith and her husband, Steve, are great supporters of the charity and have raised more than £13,000 through fundraising in the past couple of years.

She said: "I attended Daisy Chain's annual ball a couple of years ago. After watching a film about the amazing work they do and the impact it has on families in the region, my husband and I began supporting the charity in any way we could.

"As soon as I heard about the fundraising trek up Kilimanjaro, which was something I had always wanted to do, the decision tosign up was very easy.

"Reaching the summit was the best experience of my life and I caught the bug of climbing - I would recommend it to anyone, " added Mrs Smith.