A barrage of golf balls rained down from the sky in a bizarre hole-in-one contest.

Golfers who would usually hit their shots from the tee instead paid £5 each to have their ball taken up in a helicopter.

The numbered balls were dropped 30ft on to the putting green at the Dyke Golf Club in Brighton.

Two lucky winners whose golf balls landed closest to the hole went on a helicopter ride around Brighton.

The stunt was part of a charity day at the Devil's Dyke course which raised more than £9,000 for The Martlets Hospice in Hove.

Other attractions included an auction, a raffle and a charity golf match with 120 competitors.

The Martlets fund-raiser Antonia Shepherd said: "We had raised more than £9,000 by the time we stopped counting but there is more to come in."

The Martlets, in Wayfield Avenue, Hove, opened in 1997 to care for terminally-ill patients, their families and carers. It is not part of the NHS and has to raise £2.6 million to run for one year.