A daredevil OAP has marked his 86th birthday by performing a series of aerial stunts - in a Spitfire.

Alan Taylor called his time in the two-seater WW2-era fighter "fabulous" and said he did not feel sick even when his pilot flipped the aircraft upside down."

He had been fascinated with the famed plane since he was a child and jumped at the chance to take to the skies in a vintage model with a pleasure flight company.

Alan took off from Blackpool Airport, Lancs, and circled over his home in Whalley, where his neighbours had arranged a street party for his birthday.

And while he initially declined his pilot's request to make some more advanced manoeuvres, he later gave him the all-clear to pull off some barrel rolls.

Alan said: "It was fabulous… The one thing I can remember is looking at my feet and wondering why I could see the clouds."

"We were upside down of course. I didn't feel sick or anything, and then he did two fast rolls."

"I was on a total high from the moment I got out of the plane until bedtime."

"If the opportunity comes up to do it again, I'm going."

Alan said he got the chance to go up in the legendary aircraft when he and his wife visited the Spitfire Visitor Centre at Blackpool Airport around three months ago.

He had spotted a poster advertising ‘Spitfire of the North' - a new experience that gives people the opportunity to fly in the plane - and immediately booked a flight.

Flights with the company range from £2975 for a 30-minute journey across the coastline up to £5475 for a 55-minute trip around the skies of North West England.

But Alan admitted he didn't want to miss out on his one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and was happy to take a longer flight to make his big day extra special.

He said: "I knew I didn't want a short flight, so when they told me the best slot was on Saturday morning, it just happened to be my birthday."

"It's funny really as people asked me if I was excited or apprehensive, but up until about two hours before the flight I was as cool as a cucumber."

"I didn't start getting excited until we actually arrived at Blackpool Airport."

The flight first took Alan to Longridge Fell, at the southern end of the Forest of Bowland, where his family and friends congregated to watch him zoom by.

He then circled over his home in Whalley and was able to see the street party that his neighbours had organised him down below.

Alan then chose to fly over Pendle Hill to give walkers the opportunity to see a Spitfire up close.

And he even got the chance to take hold of the controls at one point, under the watchful eye of the plane's highly skilled pilot.

He said: "The visibility was unbelievable. It was crystal clear."

"At one point we were banked at about 50 degrees curling around Pendle before diving over to Downham Hall."

"Then I took over the controls and flew straight over St Leonard's Church and back to the street party in Whalley."

Barry Hughes, Deputy Chief Pilot at Biggin Hill, said flying with Alan was an absolute joy.

He said: "Flying in one of the world's most iconic aircraft, it's difficult to bring people back disappointed."

"If we can capture things that are on their wish list along the way, then it's all the more enjoyable."