14484/20EIGHT lucky winners of the Gazette and Herald's competition to win a flight in a hot air balloon enjoyed the sensation of floating over the Wiltshire countryside on Tuesday afternoon.

Making the most of one of only a few dry days in an otherwise damp and windy October, Pewsey-based Cameron Flights Southern took the 12 passengers on the trip of a lifetime from The Green at Devizes across the historic countryside north of the town.

With pilot Kerry Coate-Bond at the controls, the balloon lifted up and away, making for Avebury.

Below them the Devizes Millennium White Horse and the English Civil War battlefield of Roundway Down came into view and the passengers were able to enjoy a completely different angle on the well-known local landmarks.

Eileen Eagle, who lives in Devizes and works for Wadworth, said: "It was wonderful. I know the area fairly well and could possibly appreciate it more than people who were seeing it for the first time.

"I have no problem with heights but, even if I had, the sides of the baskets were high enough to give you a feeling of complete security. You felt you could lean right over in total safety.

"The pilot was excellent and we made such a good landing."

Mrs Eagle was accompanied by her husband Adrian.

Alison Ford from West Chisenbury, near Pewsey, said: "It was absolutely amazing.

"I did a balloon trip over Bath ten years ago, but this was even better than I remember.

"Most of us couldn't get over how peaceful it was. There wasn't a sound except for when the pilot burned the gas to get us higher. It was not as cold as I thought it was going to be.

"The sun was setting by the time we landed at Calne and it was such a beautiful sight."

Although the idea was to fly over Avebury stone circle, the wind

direction was wrong and the passengers had to make do with a very good view of Silbury Hill and the Cherhill White Horse. But no one complained about the change and they all toasted the pilot, the balloon company and the Gazette and Herald with a free glass of champagne when they returned to terra firma at the end of the one-hour flight.

Devizes Green is just one of five launch sites in Wiltshire and 19 around the south of England used by Cameron Flights Southern.

The lucky winners were Eileen Eagle from Devizes, Katherine Leach from Biddestone, Paul Hargreaves from Westbury, Diane Denford from Marlborough, Lynda Cox from Devizes, Alison Ford from West Chisenbury, Ken Lewis from Brinkworth and Sue Moffet from Shaw, near Melksham.