Kilimanjaro celebs reach the summit

The celebrities climbing Africa's tallest peak for Comic Relief reached the summit as dawn broke this morning.

Nearly £1.4 million has been raised by the nine-strong team, some of whom endured altitude sickness and exhaustion on their ascent to the top of the 19,300ft (5,900m) Mount Kilimanjaro.

Among the first to reach the peak were Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole, presenter Fearne Cotton, GMTV host Ben Shephard, and performer Denise Van Outen. The Comic Relief blog said: "At the summit, God knows how. Ben, Fearne, Denise and Cheryl make it just as the sun comes up. Amazing."

The BBC reports that the rest of the troop, including singer Alesha Dixon, Girls Aloud's Kimberley Walsh, Ronan Keating, Take That's Gary Barlow and DJ Chris Moyles also summited this morning.

The blog added: "Cheryl, for one, has already said she's never done anything so mentally and physically demanding, and I doubt anyone in the team will disagree."

The group set out to raise £1 million for charity on the eight-day hike, surpassing that figure just five days into the challenge.