Fears grow for British climber ten days after he went missing in remote Pakistan mountain range

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Ben Cheek, 28, from Manchester, was trying to scale the Shimsal Whitehorn peak alone.

The alarm was raised when he did not return from the four-day trip.

K2: Ben Cheek was attempting to scale the Shimsal Whitehorn peak, which is in the same range as the second highest mountain in the world

Rescuers are using helicopters to scour mountains near the Chinese border.

Mr Cheek, a research biologist, will have faced intense heat in the day and cold at night on the mountain, which is in the same range as K2.

Officials from the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) said Mr Cheek, who is an experienced climber, was due to return on July 15.

Nick Colton, deputy chief executive of the BMC, said: 'Ten days is a long time to be missing, but it is not unknown for people to be missing for longer periods.

'People who do these sorts of things are very resilient and have good survival skills.

'We hope and pray that he is ok.'

Mr Cheek has initially travelled to the area in a bid to make the first ascent of the northern ridge of the 7883m Distaghil Sar peak, in the remote Hispar Range.

He was one of a four-strong Canadian-UK team - led by Canadian Bruce Normand - who were attempting the climb on one of the world's remotest faces of one of the highest peaks.

The British Mountaineering Council was updated on their progress.

Mr Colton said: 'It is a very cutting edge expedition to reach a peak that hasn't been done before.

'It means climbing over terrain that has never been climbed over before and going into unknown territory, trying to find routes and not getting what you expect.'

Mr Cheek is understood to have left the other members of the team to attempt a solo climb on the 6304m Shimshal Whitehorn peak.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'A British national is missing in the Shimshal mountain area in northern Pakistan.

'We are in touch with the next of kin and authorities in Pakistan and we are providing consular assistance to the family.'