YOUNGSTER Uwais Hassan sent a balloon up, up and away in a race organised by his school - and got a letter from Denmark in reply.

Uwais, seven, joined other pupils at Audley Infants School, Blackburn, taking part in the balloon race last month. Danish schoolboy Simon Jeppe Neilsen, also seven, found Uwais Hassan's balloon in his garden near Ringsted, Denmark, only a day after it was released.

As Simon doesn't speak English, he asked his 19-year-old cousin Line Lund to write to Uwais at the school, telling him all about the family and asking why Uwais had sent the balloon.

Headteacher Susan Grimshaw said the school also received four letters from the Leeds area after the race on January 25, which was part of a book week, but Uwais' balloon was the only one to cross the sea.

She said: "We've had some lovely letters and we are replying to them all. One lady sent a photograph of her spaniel, which found the balloon. All the children whose balloons were returned will have books as prizes."

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