Pandemic 'mountain' stair climber dies aged 93

Margaret Payne was 90 when she took on her stair-climbing challenge in 2020

A 93-year-old woman who completed a two-month, stair-climbing challenge for charity during the Covid pandemic has died.

Margaret Payne scaled the equivalent of Highland mountain Suilven - 731m (2,398ft) - with trips upstairs at her Sutherland home. She was 90 at the time.

Her fundraising challenge started in April 2020 and it took almost 300 trips to complete it in June.

Mrs Payne, who died at the weekend, was inspired by the fundraising efforts of Captain Tom Moore, and she raised more than £347,000 for the NHS, Highland Hospice and RNLI.

Margaret Payne on a trip to the mountain Suilven

Mrs Payne made almost 300 trips up her stairs to complete her challenge

The Highland Hospice in Inverness has confirmed Mrs Payne's death.

She would have been 94 on Tuesday.

The hospice said: "During those first few months of Covid in the spring of 2020, then 90-year-old Margaret climbed the height of Suilven on her stairs raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity and capturing people’s hearts.

"Margaret was a lockdown legend, but her long and extraordinary life took in so much more."

The charity said it was grateful to Mrs Payne's family and her late husband Jim for their support.

The hospice added: "Keep climbing Margaret."

Highland Hospice has paid tribute to Mrs Payne

Mrs Payne, from Ardvar, first climbed Suilven in the west of Sutherland, when she was aged 15 in 1944.

Her stair climbing in 2020 started soon after Capt Tom's efforts raised millions of pounds after he completed 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.