Fred's luxury thank-you

Six heroes who saved the life of a Midlands plane crash survivor were the guests of honour for a special journey on the Severn Valley Railway.

When the plane Fred Jones was travelling in crashed in Shropshire, very few people thought he would live to tell the tale.

But two decades later, the 57-year-old, of Heath House Drive, Wombourne, was able to say a huge "thank you" to the men who saved him by taking them on a trip in the railway's luxurious observation carriage.

On board the train leaving Kidderminster yesterday were farmer John Sankey, who raised the alarm following the crash on April 2, 1988, ambulance driver Dave Allen and paramedic Stan Bloor. They were joined by spinal injury specialist, Waghi El Mari, senior prosthetist, Bryan Hyde-Jones and maxillofacial consultant Stephen Olley.

John, of Brow Farm, Ratlinghope, called 999 when the plane plummeted to the ground near his home in freezing weather.

He then towed an ambulance to the crash site after it became stuck in mud.

Mr Jones said: "I can't thank all these men enough for what they have done. They are all heroes."