SIXTH former Luke Bolton has come back to earth with a jolt after having his head in the clouds.

Luke, 17, from Ramsbury, hopes to raise about £800 sponsorship for the Breast Cancer Care charity as the result of his sky-dive.

Luke decided to have a go after one of his friends was given a Red Letter Day birthday present of a parachuting experience that he has yet to undertake.

He said: "It sounded like a good idea so I decided to have a go myself and then I found out that I could do it for a charity."

Although no one in Luke's family or his circle of friends has had a relative with breast cancer he said he had heard and read so much about it that he decided to support Breast Cancer Care.

Luke said: "I keep hearing on the news that they are just one year away from developing a cure so I decided it would be a good thing to do it for."

He enrolled with a company called Skyline who organise parachuting from a grass airstrip at Lower Wanborough near Swindon.

Strapped to an experienced instructor Luke made a tandem jump from a height of 12,000 feet.

He said it took about ten minutes for the light aircraft to circle its way up to the jump height.

"It was amazing. When they pushed us out of the aircraft it was straight into cloud. We were free falling through the cloud which was a very strange experience.

"When we came out of the cloud I could see Swindon and the motorway. That was quite scary.

"When he opened the parachute we had an opportunity to look around. It was just amazing."

Luke said he was a bit nervous before the jump until his instructor told him he had made more than 2,500 jumps previously.

Now, said Luke, he can't wait to get the opportunity to jump again but first of all he has to find the cash. It costs £225 to make a charity jump or £340 if you are not sponsored.

With his feet back on the ground Luke who attends St Barts School in Newbury is swotting for his A levels which he takes next summer, after which he plans to go to university to read history.