Up for cross-channel balloon challenge

A DARING adventurer crossed the English Channel yesterday strapped in a chair beneath several dozen helium-filled balloons and landing in a French cabbage field.

Jonathan Trappe set off from a field in Kent early yesterday morning hoping to become the first cluster balloonist to cross the stretch of water.

The US adventurer, 36, was held at the mercy of the prevailing winds beneath his colourful collection of gigantic inflatables.