A BALLOON race in aid of a Hereford church has really taken off.

Shaun Ward, director of music at Holy Trinity, wondered if choristers had their heads in the clouds when they came up with the plan.

But he need not have worried if the balloons - like the idea - would fly. They did and one of them went all the way to Somerset while another was recovered from Shaun's home village of Cadbury Heath, near Bristol.

The balloon race combined with other fund-raising activities at the Holy Trinity fete made £3,000 for the Victorian church.

"It all went very well. We have a strong choir of more than 30 people of all ages and have just started a new group for the very young," said Shaun.