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 β€œto 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.