It was a dream come true for a young aircraft mechanic from Largs who met Scotland’s multi-Olympic gold medallist and world champion cyclist Sir Chris Hoy.

Emma Mills joined Sir Chris on a tandem to cycle round the British Airways maintenance depot in Glasgow as staff at the hangar kicked off their Red Nose Day charity fund-raising drive.

The event was to boost British Airways’ Flying Start fund-raising initiative on behalf of Comic Relief when the legendary sportsman visited the airline’s engineering hangar at Glasgow Airport.

Emma, 28, attended Largs Academy and then studied at Ayrshire College, completing an HNC in aircraft engineering before starting work at British Airways in 2017.

After completing her circuit of the hangar with Sir Chris, she said; “It’s not every day at work you get to meet Scotland’s most successful Olympian.

“To have the opportunity to do something so rare and exciting like cycle around the British Airways hanger with such an established athlete is very surreal.

“Sir Chris is a genuinely nice person.

“He made everyone feel welcome as he took his time to engage with everyone in the hanger.”

After his visit, Sir Chris said; "Flying Start has done a tremendous job, raising more than £20 million for Comic Relief two years ahead of its 2020 deadline.

"It was a pleasure to meet them and to encourage them to go on with their great fund-raising efforts for Flying Start, helping Comic Relief continue their fantastic work in improving the lives of underprivileged and deprived children throughout the world and here in the UK."