'Lost in space' Bakewell pudding found in Lincolnshire

The pudding went missing shortly after being pictured at about 50,000ft above earth

A Bakewell pudding that went missing after being launched towards space has been found on a farm in Lincolnshire.

The dessert was attached to a high altitude balloon by pupils at a Derbyshire school in June.

It went missing after tracking devices recorded it at 52,500ft (16,000m) over Saxilby, Lincolnshire, with search efforts sparking interest online.

The celestial pudding was found on Saturday near Louth and even astronaut Tim Peake has tweeted the good news.

• East Midlands Live: Fiennes wants 'masked thugs' caught; Padlocks memorial for explosion girl's birthday

Farmer Neil Pawson, 53, found it in an asparagus field while walking his dog in Donington on Bain.

He said: "I was on a public footpath and looked up, saw something white and went to investigate - it could have been an injured swan or something.

The Bakewell pudding was found just off a footpath by a man walking his dog

"I thought it was obviously a school experiment. Then I traced it down to the box, and thought 'ahhh'," he added.

"We often find balloons, but not something like this."

• Meat and potato pie 'sent into space'

• Cuddly toy blasted into stratosphere

• The oddities sent to space

Nick McCloud, who helped pupils at S. Anselm's Preparatory School with the launch, said the pudding had "very clearly been nibbled round the edges", adding he would be buying Mr Pawson a replacement pudding as thanks.

The farmer had already contributed to a fundraising project run as part of the experiment, with more than £1,600 to be donated to the Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Among those following the fortunes of the flying foodstuff was Stephen Fry, whose tweet about its mysterious disappearance attracted more than 5,000 likes.