Pensioners Anne Jordan and Kathleen Bailey took to the skies above Bradford and Keighley like born aviators.

After a quick rendering of "Amy Johnson flew in an Aeroplane" the two residents of Hanover Housing sheltered homes strapped themselves in the four-seater single engined Maule and swept away.

And it was all for the price of a £1 raffle ticket in a draw to celebrate Sheltered Housing Awareness week, organised by Gail Robinson, the Hanover Housing estate manager.

Kathleen, pictured right, a 76-year-old retired weaver of Little Horton, was taking only her second flight in her life.

She lowered herself into the co-pilot's seat as 72-year-old Anne climbed into the plush red seats in the rear - with step-up help from a petrol can.

"I only flew for the first time three weeks ago to Spain and when I got back I bought the raffle ticket and won. It's pure fluke," said Kathleen.

Anne, who has lived in the Toller Lane complex for 13 years, said she had only ever flown to London once before, several years ago.

"I really enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to this trip," she added.

Taking off from a private airfield at Oxenhope near Keighley, their flight took them up to 2,000 feet at a speed of 120 miles an hour.

They flew over Haworth, Bradford, Hebden Bridge and Mixenden and to the edge of Halifax.

And their verdict as they landed about 15 minutes later was that the view was "absolutely gorgeous".

Kathleen said: "We had a fantastic view - it makes you appreciate what beautiful countryside there is around Bradford. It looked so good from the air."

"It was out of this world," said Anne. "You get a much better view than in a bigger plane. It was a fantastic trip."

The event was one of several thousand taking place this week throughout the district and the rest of Britain to make people more aware of the existence of sheltered and retirement housing, said Hanover Housing estate manager Gail Robinson.

"The underlying aim is to publicise the benefits of sheltered housing for older people," she added.

Money raised by the raffle has gone towards Marie Curie Cancer Research funds.

Anne and Kathleen rounded off their special treat with a lunch at the Hare and Hounds in Heaton.