Sussex couple hoping to cross the Atlantic in balloon forced to abandon challenge mid flight

• Mike and Deborah Scholes had spent years planning the epic journey and yesterday they took off from Sussex in Canada.

A husband and wife team from Burgess Hill hoping to cross the Atlantic in a specially made balloon have had to abandon their challenge mid flight.

Mike and Deborah Scholes had spent years planning the epic journey and yesterday they took off from Sussex in Canada.

The couple were hoping to make a double world record. Deborah would become the first woman to captain a balloon flight across the Atlantic and Mike would become the first registered blind person to do it as crew. 

At lunchtime this afternoon, after 19 hours in the sky, a technical problem with the balloon meant they had to make a controlled landing in Newfoundland, Canada.

The adventurers were advised it was not safe to continue across the Atlantic and into Europe. They were two thousand miles off their final destination. 

Mike and Deborah's team said the couple are disappointed but they won't let this setback dampen their spirits.