Polly Vacher has set three new aviation records

Polly Vacher, 60, of Drayton, Oxfordshire, landed at Birmingham International Airport almost a year after she set off in her Piper Dakota.

Her attempt to become the first person to fly solo around the world via both poles in a single-engined aircraft was thwarted by poor weather in Antarctica.

But the retired music teacher claims to have set three new aviation records.

I have had the most amazing time Polly Vacher

Those include being the first woman to fly solo around Antarctica in a single-engine light aircraft and the first person to fly around the world via all seven continents.

Ms Vacher completed her 60,000-nautical mile trip just before 1300 BST watched by family and friends in a VIP suite.

The mother-of-three told waiting reporters on the runway as she was greeted by her husband and mother: "I get a sort of feeling of deja vu.

"It has been fantastic. I have met some wonderful people, I have had the most amazing time."

Later, she told a press conference at the airport how strong headwinds forced her to turn around during her Antarctic crossing in December, forcing her to abort her record attempt.

"When I turned around, I felt really gutted.

"I didn't want to land 50 miles short of where I was going and to damage or kill myself or put someone else in danger coming out to fetch me."

Raised funds for charity

The trip, which saw the adventurer's plane cut out in mid-air over the North Pole and then survive tropical storms en route to Hawaii, helped raise more than �270,000 for the Flying Scholarships for the Disabled charity.

During the trip, she helped end a diplomatic row between Australia and the USA and New Zealand over the latter two countries' refusal to refuel an Antipodean pilot's plane when it became stranded at the South Pole.

Ms Vacher offered to let pilot Jon Johanson use fuel she had stored at the McMurdo-Scott base for the Antarctic leg of her adventure.

After flying into Birmingham, Ms Vacher was due to return to her home base of Oxford Airport in Kidlington.

The Piper Dakota was the same aircraft she used to complete her first record-breaking trip three years ago when she became the first woman to fly around the world via Australia and the Pacific.