Amelia Russell (27) and her boyfriend Dan intend to trek for two months without dogs or motorised vehicles.

It will mean pulling sledges weighing 140 kilograms around 500 miles across snow and ice.

Amelia, who was a pupil at Liss Infant and Junior schools and Bohunt School before studying medicine at Trinity College, Cambridge, is currently working as a locum in the accident and emergency departments of various London hospitals.

She is combining work with a gruelling programme of training for the North Pole expedition.

Among the methods she is using to build up the right muscles is dragging four car tyres to simulate the weight of a sledge.

"We do that regularly on Epsom Common.

"We do get some curious looks, but we usually get a very positive response when we tell people what we are doing," she said.

The expedition represents a huge financial investment for the couple.

"We are spending £100,000 of our own money, and we are trying to raise £75,000 through corporate sponsorship, although that is proving very difficult in the current financial climate," said Amelia. "But we are definitely going, whatever happens, even if we have to pay for the whole thing ourselves. We have already booked our flight to Canada on February 27, so we can't back out now."

Amelia and Dan also plan to use the expedition to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity for wounded servicemen and women.

The couple plan to undertake the expedition in March when conditions will be most favourable.

If they succeed, they will be only the fifth and sixth Britons – and Amelia the first British woman – to reach the Pole in an unsupported expedition.

"We won't have dogs to help us – it will be just us, and anything we need we will have to pull along with us," said Amelia.

"The distance is 500 miles as the crow flies, but it will actually be longer than that, because the ice is constantly moving around and we will have to pick the best route through.

"Our target is to reach the Pole in 65 days. We are doing it in March because during the winter it is too dark, and once you get into late spring and summer the ice starts to melt so you cannot guarantee to reach the Pole.

"In March, there should be a balance between having enough ice and having enough daylight.