WELLAND pensioner Mary Purser took to the air this week for her first ever wing-walk.

Mrs Purser, aged 77, agreed to do the daring stunt to raise money for ChildLine, and was originally slated to do it earlier in the summer.

She said: "But four days before, I fell and broke a bone in my wrist, so that was off. The second date I was given was the weekend when we had all the rain and thunder, so that had to be postponed as well."

But it was third time lucky on Tuesday, when she took off from Staverton airfield near Gloucester on top of a specially-adapted biplane.

She said: “Malvern and Three Counties Friends Childline came along to support me, along with my daughter and other friends and family. They gave me a bouquet of flowers which was lovely.

“I’d been looking forward to it for so long, I just wanted to get it done. It was a brilliant experience.

“I could not fault the pilot, he was brilliant. We had a thumbs-down signal procedure if I wanted to come down but everything was fine. We were up there for ten minutes and circled Staverton airfield. I was strapped into this padded metal seat. It’s funny, when the plane banked I automatically went to grab the frame, forgetting that I was actually strapped in.

“My eyes were watering behind the goggles I had on, so I could not see into the distance and spot people on the ground to wave to. I simply put my hand up every now and then in the hope they’d see me."

Colin Butler of Malvern's Childline group said: "Mary has raised around £1,500 for ChildLine and we are really grateful to her and to all the people who have generously sponsored her directly or through her Just Giving web page."