Two hitchhikers who thumbed a lift from a stranger got a lot more than they bargained for when he offered to fly them to their destination.

Amy Oliver, 23, and Daniel Cruikshank, 24, expected their journey to Devon to take more than six hours when they left Brighton.

But after an hour-and-a-half of holding their sign with "A27 West" on it, they had still not had a single offer.

"No-one was stopping and we were getting a little desperate," said Amy, a former geography student at Sussex University who had just returned from a year's trip around the Far East.

But their luck changed when aviation expert Phil Cornford saw them. He said: "I used to do a lot of hitch-hiking around Europe when I was younger and they looked smashing kids, so I thought I'd help them out.

An operations executive for GB Airways, Phil, 52, has held a pilot's licence for 25 years and was on his way to Shoreham Airport to meet a friend of his who is also a pilot.

Phil, from Haywards Heath, said: "When I said I was only going to Shoreham, ten minutes away, I guess they were a little disappointed."

It was then that Phil got the idea of taking them by air. "I was meeting my friend and we were going to fly somewhere anyway. I suddenly thought it might it a good idea to take them to Devon.

"When I told them, I don't think they believed me to begin with. After all, here was this guy driving an old Astra telling them he was a pilot. But when I checked it out with my friend and told them that it was okay, they were both ecstatic."

Before Amy and Daniel knew it, their rucksacks were being loaded on board an American Grumoan Tiger light aircraft.

"It was unreal," said Amy. "Because I told Phil that I'd read geography at Sussex he gave me an old map and I managed to trace our path as we flew."

The aircraft, piloted by Phil's friend Noel McNaly, landed at a small airfield in Dunkeswell, Devon, 120 miles away as the crow flies.

"I was surprised when Phil told me he had two hitchhikers needing to go to Devon but it seemed a great idea that we should fly them there," said Noel, 39, who owns the Linden Tree Public House, near Haywards Heath.

"The flight took about an hour. It was a beautiful day and they enjoyed it."

Amy said: "I can't believe we were given a lift in an aeroplane. I have to admit Danny and I were wary at first. But then he started to tell us all about his flying and we saw he was an expert pilot. It was a really kind thing they did."