A SOLDIER who became the first female to lose a limb fighting in Afghanistan will be joining Prince Harry in a race to the South Pole.

Major Kate Philp, originally from Knightwick, near Worcester, lost her left leg in a bomb blast in 2008 and will join the Prince and other injured British service personnel to take on teams from the United States and the Commonwealth in the 208-mile Walking With the Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge in November and December.

The 34-year-old will trek between nine and 13 miles each day, battle against extreme weather conditions and encounter vast crevasses, moving ice-shelves, glaciers and snow storms.

Announcing his involvement in the whole challenge, the Prince said the aim of the race was “to enable our wounded to do what they and all other servicemen and women do better than anyone else I know - meet a challenge head-on and overcome it and inspire others to do the same.”

During the four-week Antarctic expedition the racers will drag sledges - known as pulks - weighing more than 150lb and face extreme temperatures as low as -45C, along with 50mph winds.

Team Glenfiddich is completed by Sergeant Duncan Slater, 34, from Muir of Ord in Scotland, who lost both his legs in a blast in Afghanistan in 2009, Captain Guy Disney, 31, from Oxford, who lost his right leg in a rocket attack in 2009, and Captain Ibrar Ali, 36, from York, who lost his right arm in a roadside bomb in 2007.