Lost in space - where is Bradfield the bear?

A school teddy bear who was sent high into Earth's upper atmosphere has gone missing.

Bradfield Bear was launched two weeks ago, on a high-altitude weather balloon, by Year 7 and 8 pupils at Walhampton School in Hampshire.

One minute he was calmly cruising above the clouds, the next, nobody had the faintest idea where he'd got to.

Bradfield - not wearing an astrobear suit, but a mini school uniform - set off on his "much anticipated space adventure" at 12:30pm on 10 November.

A badger named Bill (not a real badger) also joined the flight, sent up by a team from Southampton University‘s Spaceflight Society.

The two toys floated up into the stratosphere, looking surprisingly relaxed at around 27km (17miles) above the Earth.

Although very high up, the edge of Earth's atmosphere is known as the Kármán line at 100 km (62 miles) up. This is the point where the atmosphere becomes too thin for most aircraft to fly.

The hope was that Bradfield would float back down to earth near Basingstoke, a few hours later.

But students watching the onboard camera, saw that around 3:20pm something had gone wrong. Bradfield detached from the balloon and hurtled at speed towards the Earth.

The bear is thought to have landed somewhere near Henley-on-Thames or Reading - where he may currently be tucked in a hedge or exploring a field.

Science teacher Ellie Robinson said the bear did "amazingly" to reach such heights, adding: "I am sure he is fine”.

Anyone spotting a small, smartly dressed brown teddy is asked to contact the school - he may have conquered space (sort of), but getting home is another matter.

Meanwhile, the weather balloon and Bill the badger were safely recovered in a field near High Wycombe.