CHIPPENHAM NEWS: DARING Wiltshire explorer David Hempleman-Adams has launched a quirky new bid to beat the world record for the highest formal dinner party ever eaten.

The 44-year-old father from Box will fly a hot air balloon on June 30 to 25,000ft while fellow explorer Bear Grylls, 30, and team leader of the Royal Navy Free Fall Parachute Display Team Lt Com Alan Veal, 33, eat a three-course meal suspended below.

The Chippenham News got a sneak preview of just what the challenge will involve at a launch party on Tuesday.

While Mr Hempleman-Adams mans the balloon, the two diners will climb 40ft from the basket down to a formally laid dinner table, where they will enjoy a gourmet three course meal served on a Union Jack tablecloth at about -50C.

The cordon bleu menu will consist of:

Starter: Asparagus wrapped in pepper in hollandaise sauce

Main: Poached salmon with new potatoes and salad

Dessert: Terrine of summer fruit.

Wearing full navy mess they will then toast the queen and skydive back to earth.

Mr Hempleman-Adams said: "It's going to be more dangerous flying the balloon than it is parachuting because as soon as they jump out the balloon shoots up and that is dangerous.

"The other two will be able to land pretty quickly but I will be stuck trying to get down from 25,000ft.

"The other big problem for me is going to be trying to get airspace to avoid jumbo jets."

The team has spent the past year preparing for the high-altitude feast and Mr Hempleman-Adams is perfectly qualified for his role in the record-breaking bid. He was the first person to fly a balloon over the North Pole and two years ago he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon.

Project manager Chris Thorn said: "When they have got to 24,500ft David Hempleman-Adams will put the balloon into descent mode to take them down to 20,000ft, at which point they will have finished their meal and had a sip of champagne. They will stow everything away, rip off the tablecloth and David will pull the whole table back against the side of the hot air balloon basket while the other two begin their freefall."

The two diners will be taking oxygen through masks throughout the procedure, and will be wearing full thermals and balaclavas to shield them from the cold, making eating a mouthful of food a full-scale challenge in itself.

They were also originally planning to wear top hats for the meal but decided these would be impossible to keep on their heads in the wind.

A lightweight aluminium table has been built for the event, which folds inwards to the parachute basket before and after the meal.

They will eat off paper plates attached to the table with Velcro and drinking from plastic glasses.

Lt Com Veal said: "Eating is going to be awkward to say the least because we are going to have oxygen masks on.

"We will be taking it in turns to eat while the other person is monitoring for signs of hypoxia."

Possible symptoms of hypoxia, which can be lethal and is caused by lack of oxygen, include a tingling face, blue lips and feeling drunk.

The launch location will be decided by the direction of the wind on the day. The parachutists will be aiming to land in Ston Easton Park, Somerset.

The current record is held by Henry Shelford, who carried a table up the Himalayan slopes in Nepal to eat dinner at 22,326ft.