A FORMER air hostess, who is terrified of heights, aims to overcome her phobia in the hardest possible way - by diving out of a plane at 10,000ft.

Amanda Thomas, from Acklam, Middlesbrough, couldn't bring herself to look out of the window when she worked as cabin crew on short-haul trips with a British airline.

"I just used to think of the plane as a little hotel and forget about the fact we were thousands of feet in the air," she said.

When a passenger asked for another cup of coffee, she had to avert her eyes in case she caught a glimpse of the clouds outside.

But she is going to find it a little harder to ignore on Sunday when she is strapped to an expert skydiver for a tandem jump at the Peterlee Parachute Academy.

Amanda, 33, hopes the daredevil drop will help overcome her fear of heights once and for all.

"I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but at least it's all in a good cause," said Amanda, who is hoping to raise money for the Bunny Burrows rabbit refuge in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

"I think I agreed to do it in a moment of madness. I just decided to give it a go,'' said Amanda, who runs the Lens Flair wedding photography business with husband, Steve.

"Both our rabbits - Teddy and Katie - are from the rescue centre. They are both litter-trained now and spend evenings sitting on our knees watching the television."