HIGH-FLIER Alice Archer celebrated her 16th birthday by becoming one of the youngest people in the country to complete a solo glider flight.

Alice, from Goathland, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, marked her big day by securing her solo licence at the Wolds Glider Club, in Pocklington.

She said: "I was nervous to start with, but when I went up, I forgot all about it.

"It was absolutely amazing. It was so quiet and strange I cannot describe it."

Under British law, 16 is the youngest age for people to fly solo in gliders.

Alice was introduced to gliding a year ago by her stepfather Ian MacCraig and takes to the skies about twice a week.

She plans to work towards a further gliding qualification, and her ambition is to become one of the few female commercial airline pilots in the UK.