A SOLDIER who was seriously injured in the Falklands War has scaled the UK's highest peak to raise money for a memorial to those who died in the conflict.

Stephen Llewellyn served with the Welsh Guards during the campaign and was on the Sir Galahad troop carrier when it was blown up by Argentine forces in Bluff Cove.

He suffered third degree burns to his neck and hands and said the memory of the war has stayed with him all his life.

Also caught in the flames was fellow Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston, who later came to be synonymous with triumph over adversity following his horrific burn injuries.

The South Atlantic Medal Association, an organisation which helps to support veterans of the conflict, plans to build a national Falklands monument to mark the 25th anniversary of the war next year.

And Stephen, 43, was joined by his wife, Catherine, their two daughters, Samantha, 20, and Emma, 23, and their seven-year-old son Rhys as he made his way 4,406ft to the peak of Ben Nevis in Scotland to raise £1,000 for the project.

The family, from Blackburn Road, Oswaldtwistle, was also joined by the girls' boyfriends, Chris Davenport, of Belfield Road, Accrington, and Joe Arnone, of Darwen, and 61-year-old friend Josephine Jackson, of Rowen Avenue, Oswaldtwistle.

Josephine's husband Tommy, 66, set up a base camp on the mountain to provide a hot meal for the team when they got back down from their 10-hour trek.

A five-tonne rock has been shipped over from the Mount Harriet battlefield in the Falklands and will be inscribed with the names of all those who perished during the war.

Stephen said: "At the moment there is no central place for families to go and grieve for their loved ones. The monument that is being planned in Cardiff would allow them to do that.

"The climb seemed an ideal way to raise money for the cause.

"The weather at the summit was pretty miserable but it still gave us an amazing sense of achievement to get up there - and back down again."

Mr Llewellyn left in the army in 1989 but later joined the reservists and then the Territorial Army.

Then in 2003 he was drafted to serve in Iraq.

He was stabbed during a riot in Basra and suffered massive chest and leg injuries when an ambulance in which he was travelling was bombed.

He now works as a central heating plumber for Hyndburn Homes and said he was on the sixth chapter of a book he is writing about his experiences.