Up, up and away! Pupils at the Sacred Heart Primary School in Southchurch Road, Southend, had an unusual lesson when Lurpak mascot Douglas arrived.

Douglas, the trombone-playing butter man, has taken on a new role showing children the delights of hot air.

He brought a 133ft tall balloon with him which has been touring East Anglian schools to give youngsters a practical demonstration of hot air ballooning with a professional pilot and crew.

The display at Sacred Heart started with a slide show covering the history of ballooning, what they are made of and how they fly.

Pupils then had the chance to watch the equipment in action although they were disappointed when the high winds meant the balloon could not be inflated to its full potential.

Hold on - pilot Sue Carden takes control of pupils Matthew Garrard, Michael Garvey and Lizzie Bush

Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.