British explorer David Hempleman-Adams is said to be "doing fine" in his bid to cross the Atlantic in a balloon with an old-fashioned wicker basket.

The 45-year-old adventurer from Wiltshire is hoping to beat five records including the solo world distance record of 5,340km (3,337.5 miles) for the helium and hot-air balloon type .

At 0600 BST on Wednesday, 19 hours into his flight, Mr Hempleman-Adams was north of New York.

He is expected to reach the Atlantic coast near Maine at around midday UK time, the Atlantic Challenger co-ordinating control room said.

The balloon is flying at an altitude of 10,000ft

The flight support team said technicians are trying to iron out some technical defects with one of the balloon's two burners, which was not operating properly because of the cold.

A spokesman said: "There's a problem with one of his burners but the flight's okay.

"We think it's just a routine problem."

There was almost a disaster when the balloon took off from Allegheny County airport near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday.

The craft came within 10 ft of crashing causing Mr Hempleman-Adams to rapidly throw sand ballast from the basket.

Lack of sleep

But following the scare the balloon climbed to an altitude of 10,000 ft and headed east.

The launch site, some 450 miles inland, was chosen to give the balloonist an opportunity to test the equipment over the relative safety of dry land before hitting the coast.

During the flight, which is expected to last six days, Mr Hempleman-Adams could have to deal with temperatures as low as minus 30C.

He will also only be able to sleep for a maximum of one hour at a time in order to keep control of the craft.