A CUMBRIAN boy who has bagged over 600 mountains might have been the youngest to climb Pillar Rock.

Frankie McMillan, eight, known to be the youngest Briton to ascend the Mytikas summit on Mount Olympus, might have reached another record - but this time in the Lake District.

His mum Basia McMillan says that Frankie has been up Pillar Mountain a few times and every time he was there he wanted to climb the summit next to it - Pillar Rock.

"He loved the look of it and even more the fact that it is very difficult to reach, involving some serious scrambling and rock climbing. Inaccessible without ropes, technical equipment and climbing experience," said Basia.

At 892m (2,927 feet) Pillar Rock is the eighth-highest mountain in the Lake District.

The fell takes its name from Pillar Rock, a prominent feature on the Ennerdale side, regarded as the birthplace of rock climbing in the district.

Basia said: "He kept asking to climb it so after some research and contacting appropriate guides, I decided to surprise him with a climb. There was no better birthday present for an adventurous boy."

Pillar Rock behind Frankie, 8Pillar Rock behind Frankie, 8 (Image: Submitted)

Basia explained that he is the 'youngest known' to climb Pillar Rock.

"There are no records of such a feat so we can’t say it’s a definite world record," she added.

Frankie has already climbed over 600 mountains including some technical ascents like Mount Everest Base Camp, and scaled all 214 Wainwright classifications of Lakeland fells, including England’s tallest mountain, Scafell Pike, at the age of four.

This year Frankie and his mum are planning to climb in Morrocco in October during half term.

The trip is the circuit of the highest peaks of the High Atlas Mountains and they will climb, Ras Quanoukrim at 13,396 feet (4,083 meters) Timesguide at 13,415 feet (4,089 meters), Toubkal West 13 221 feet (4,030 meters) and Mount Toubkal 13,665 feet (4,165 metres).

"My research shows that there were two more children who climbed Toubkal before however up and down the route, it doesn’t seem that any child has ever completed the full circuit including the three highest mountains," said Basia.