SKYDIVER Gordon Hodgkinson is on cloud nine after helping break two world records.

Gordon has just returned from a trip to Thailand, where he took part in a mass parachute jump to celebrate Queen Sirikit of Thailand's 72nd birthday.

The 33-year-old joined around 450 of the world's most experienced skydivers who were invited to take part in the daredevil missions.

The first record was the biggest-ever mass demonstration jump which saw 672 people from 42 countries freefalling and filling the skies over downtown Bangkok to land near the Grand Palace.

The previous record, from April 2000, was for 588 people who jumped over Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.

Gordon, who has a home in Sunnyhurst Lane, Darwen, said: "The view in freefall over the city of Bangkok was breathtaking.

"The oval patch of grass that was the landing area was quite large but it was a bit nerve-racking knowing that the only other options were house roofs and a river."

Strong winds on the day of the jump meant that a number of jumpers were blown off course, resulting in parachutes becoming tangled in nearby trees.

The second record was for the largest freefall formation, where 357 skydivers exited simultaneously from four aircraft at 24,000ft and linked up in a pre-determined pinwheel-like formation on the way down. Gordon said: "If just one person was missing, it wouldn't be an official record.

"The magic of this record is that all 357 did their job perfectly all at the same time.

"When we nailed the record, the atmosphere was electric."

The previous record of 300 was set in Arizona in December 2002.

Gordon, a management consultant currently based in London, said: "The World Team group was an invitation-only selection of the most experienced skydivers in the world so it was a real honour to be selected to join such an elite group.

"There were only 24 skydivers from the UK in the team and I was the only one from the North West.

"Darwen has about half a dozen top-class skydivers which is incredible for a small town with no airport"

Since taking up skydiving while at the then Preston Polytechnic when he was 18, Gordon has completed around 1,250 jumps.

He is a member of the British Parachute Association and skydives over Nottingham or the Lake District every two weeks.