IT was meant to be a school trip of a lifetime to New York but it ended with two girls having to be met by paramedics off the plane due to extreme turbulence.

Around 40 students from Kingsdown School were whisked off to the Big Apple for an art trip over half term.

During their visit the 15 and 16 year olds saw all the landmarks, caught a show, and even saw a basketball game.

But the trip ended in panic as their plane hit turbulence on the return leg that was so bad that two girls from the school had to be met by ambulances at Heathrow after being taken ill during the flight.

Headteacher David Williams did not wish to reveal the identities of the two girls but added that both of the youngsters had recovered from their ordeal.

He said: "On the way out to New York we encountered a lot of turbulence but the way back was much worse.

"Some of the students were quite scared by the experience and it did shake most of us up.

"Two students became so ill because of the turbulence that they had to be met by paramedics when we touched back down in England.

"I don't want to reveal who they were without their parent's permission."

The students flew out on Tuesday, February 9 and returned on Friday, February 11. During their trip they visited various museums, including the Guggenheim and went to see the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

The students also saw the New York Knicks play and visited Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.

The trip was organised by the school's head of art Paul Gill in a bid to give the students an insight into international art.

Mr Williams added: "This is our third trip to New York. Our first and second trips were just before and just after 9/11. So they were both very poignant. This time, we visited Ground Zero again and while we were there, a man came up and tried to sell us some pictures of 9/11.

"We all gathered round to look at the pictures, which were quite evocative, and suddenly two New York cops came up and grabbed the man, and bailed him into a police car. They even told us we could keep the photos."

Jamie Hill