A beer looks good from eight miles high.

British adventurer David Hempleman-Adams was on cloud nine last night after claiming a new world altitude record by ascending more than eight miles high in a hot air balloon.

Speaking after landing in Colorado, the 47-year-old balloonist, mountaineer and polar explorer claimed he had reached 43,000ft - a record for a balloon with an open wicker basket.

His team are still waiting for official confirmation of the record but are confident they have broken it.

He said: "This is a fantastic record, everything went perfectly and I think I have broken eight world records including the absolute altitude record. I never expected to reach that height."

But the explorer said he did not dare look out of the basket at the view.

"It was so cold - about minus 80 degrees Celsius," he added.

"The wind speeds were high and I was too nervous to look down at the view.

"It was pretty scary and I was concentrating on getting back down."

The father of three from Box, Wiltshire, described the landing in a field 10 miles north east of Akron in Colorado as one of his best and said he was looking forward to a cold beer and a steak.

Flight director Tim Cole said he believed Mr Hempleman-Adams had succeeded in his record bid but that official confirmation could take months.

"It looks like he has done it," Mr Cole said. "We will get preliminary indication of the flight pattern when we download the barograph readings that will give us the pressure and height measurements of the balloon. We are very optimistic."

Mr Hempleman-Adams travelled in a wicker basket measuring 3ft by 5ft. The balloon is 140ft high.

His previous records include being the first to fly over the North Pole in a balloon and the first to walk solo unsupported to the geo-magnetic North Pole.

He has completed the explorers' grand slam - reaching north and south geographical pole and both magnetic poles and scaling the highest mountain in each of the seven continents.