IF driving lessons get too much for teenager Andrew Atkinson he can ditch his car - and take to the skies in a helicopter.

The 17-year-old received his provisional driving licence in the post days after passing his helicopter pilot test.

Andrew, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, who is studying A-level maths, physics and biology at Sunderland College, said: "I was both shocked and thrilled when I found out I had passed my test.

"My instructor, Allan Bryers, has been a huge inspiration to me and given me loads of help.

"It is crazy that I can take my pilot test before my driving test. To pass, I had to sit seven theory exams and had to go out and do solo flights. It is completely different to a driving test."

Andrew had to complete more than 50 hours' flying, which included ten hours of solo flying from a helicopter base at Newcastle Airport.

His mother, Carole, said that from a young age, Andrew wanted to be a pilot and that he hopes to go on to fly commercial planes.

She said: "I am not at all worried when he goes up by himself in the helicopter because I know that Allan Bryers, and the owner, Neil Clark, have confidence in him.

"They would not send him up if he was not a capable pilot, and I think it is safer to go up in a helicopter than to drive along the Western Bypass in Gateshead."