When Chippenham mum Hellen Nellany sent dozens of balloons into the sky to celebrate her daughter’s first birthday she thought she would hear no more.

She attached a note to each balloon asking any finders to get in touch – and was astonished to discover one had reached France.

Miss Nellany, 23, of Pewsham, said: “I was so amazed because I thought maybe they would land in Bristol or somewhere and that nobody would call.

“I didn’t have much hope that we would hear from anyone, but we thought it was a nice way to mark Honey’s birthday.”

Forty balloons were launched by friends and family at a party in Boomerang in Melksham, along with several more from home that evening.

Miss Nellany forgot about it until she received a call from France saying a seven-year-old girl had found one of the balloons.

“We had a bit of difficulty in understanding each other because of the language difference, but we ended up doing it by email,” said Miss Nellany.

“She said it was amazing that it had landed there because she was staying with her mum and her house is in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by woods.”

“We are hoping to meet each other some time soon because one of her daughters is going to university in Bristol.

“This is something really special, and even though I would love to do it again I am not sure if we will because it is so unlikely that something like this would happen twice.”