A teenage flying fanatic is aiming high to honour the memory of his pilot father who was killed in the Hatfield rail crash.

Nick Arthur, of Kington Langley, was just four when Steve Arthur died in 2000 after the London to Leeds train derailed at 115mph.

He does not remember a lot about his dad, but he does remember the wonder of being taken up in his plane.

Nick went on to fly solo at just 16, months before he even had a driving licence.

Now he has ambitions of flying businesspeople around in private jets like his father did, and plans to achieve his commercial licence in Florida next September.

Nick, 17, is taking A-levels at Hardenhuish School in Chippenham. He said: “I’ve nearly got my private licence, the minimum age to get it is 17.”

His mum Lyndsey, a volunteer at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, met his dad when she was an air hostess.

Nick said: “My dad started flying young too, in Jersey – he had the same passion as me. If he didn’t do it I wouldn’t have known much about it but I had an insight into it because of him.

“If he was around now I would have done a lot more flying.

“I want to build on that heritage myself and maybe my grandchildren will want to carry it on as well.”

Nick took his first solo circuit flight in April this year, after only 13 hours of lessons at the Cotswold Flying School at Kemble Airfield. In October he managed his first solo cross country flight from Kemble to Hereford, then Moreton-in-the Marsh and back to Kemble. He said: “It’s an incredible feeling.”