A group of Nottinghamshire police officers are ready to tackle wolves and bears as they prepare for an expedition across part of the frozen Canadian Arctic.

The team is aiming to become the first British team to cross the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories hauling sleds.

Scheduled to start on 17 February, the 105-mile crossing will take about 10 days in temperatures that will dip to -40C.

It has been organised by Nottinghamshire policeman and adventurer Mike Thornewill, who has walked to both the North and South Poles with his wife Fiona.

Bear bangers

"There are wolves and some of them are rabid, but luckily bears are in hibernation and stay along the coast," the 40-year-old said.

"There is some risk from black bears, so we will take bear bangers - a type of flare - to scare them off.

The 105-mile crossing will take about 10 days

"The team is excited and a little apprehensive, but we are all in very good physical condition."

The trek will raise money for the National Society for the Protection of Children, and the team wants to collect �5,000.

The expedition will set off from Resolution Bay and cross the frozen lake heading for Yellowknife.

Included in the group are two policewomen and six policemen. Only two of the men have ever done polar trekking the past.

"This is quite a serious undertaking as there are six complete novices involved," Mr Thornewill, from Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire, said.

Andrew Cooney, 23, also from Thurgarton, became the youngest person to walk to the South Pole on 2 January, 2003.

He is a lieutenant in the Territorial Army.