Mark Scholes could be accused of having his head in the clouds.

His idea of a fun afternoon is floating almost six miles high supported only by a tarpaulin hamper and a large helping of hot air.

The adventurer, from Lindfield, near Haywards Heath, fashioned the special lightweight basket in a successful attempt to become one of only ten British hot-air balloonists to reach 9,000m (29,528ft).

Mr Scholes came up with the idea for the basket while doing up his garage. He fixed plywood in the bottom of the tarpaulin container reducing the load from 60kg - the weight of a normal basket - to only 4kg.

Mr Scholes took off from Thorney, near Peterborough, last Thursday and the flight was verified as having reached 9,000m on Sunday - earning him the International Diamond Award.

He said: "I'd tried all sorts of other ideas but they were not light enough. I was rebuilding my garage and some stuff arrived in one of those bags.

"We were saying how useful and strong they were and I thought 'yes' - I'd be able to fit two fuel tanks in there.

"If I had used the original, I wouldn't have been able to get to that height because the air is so thin up there.

"One of the crew did the inflation and got it all ready and it was so light, the balloon was champing at the bit to take off."

Mr Scholes wore an oxygen mask and eight layers of thermal clothing under two ski suits to endure temperatures of -50C.

He said: "I was apprehensive because I hadn't been that high before and I didn't know what to expect but the whole thing was amazing."

Gusts of wind at 15,000ft and 21,000ft sparked the only big drama - causing the flames to burn a small hole in the bottom of the basket.

He said: "I was quite relaxed. When it wasn't burning because I was climbing quickly enough, I just held on to the side and had a look around."

Mr Scholes, who has been ballooning for 15 years, first attempted the challenge in 2002 but a problem with the oxygen meant he had to abort the mission.

The adventurer, who owns Chad Ballooning, in Noahs Ark Lane, Lindfield, hopes to see the curvature of the Earth from the tranquility of his balloon by climbing to 40,000ft in the autumn.

He also plans to raise money for Sussex Motor Neurone Disease Association this summer by getting people to guess how far he will fly in 12 hours.