Ground control to Major William! Teddy returns from adventures in space

A teddy bear blasted into space by pupils at Pocklington Prep School has returned home battered but with some thrilling footage from his adventure into the stratosphere.

The bear, known as Major William Wilberforce, soared 22 miles above Earth beneath a helium weather balloon, before plummeting back down.

The school has used remarkable footage from Major William’s onboard selfie cam to make a short film of his heroic journey.

A failure in his GPS tracking system meant he lay unnoticed in a field in Raywell, west of Hull, for 50 days, until being spotted by farmer Richard Thompson, who happens to be a former Pocklington School pupil.

Major William lost a leg during his adventure and literally had the stuffing knocked out of him, but a visit to a 'teddy doctor' and the delivery of a bespoke crutch patched him up, and he’s now looking forward to his next adventure.

Major William himself has been inspired by the triumphs of Paralympians and already has his sights set on flying in a glider, swimming with sharks and abseiling.

You can watch Major William's full flight below: