On a chilly, grey evening, Polly Vacher arrived home in Oxfordshire at 5.38pm - eight-minutes late.

Polly Vacher is shocked to see so many supporters at Oxford Airport

But having clocked up more than 550 flying hours and 60,000 miles around the world via the poles and all seven continents in her single engine black and orange Piper Dakota, no-one was complaining.

Mrs Vacher, from Drayton, near Abingdon, made her excuses: "It took me a little longer to leave Birmingham airport and on the way to Kidlington a television crew did some air-to-air shots of me. But I was only a few minutes late. I hope I'm forgiven."

She was excused, and received a rapturous reception at Oxford airport from nearly 100 friends, family and well-wishers. First to greet her after her epic 11-month "Voyage to the Ice" in aid of the Flying Scholarships for the Disabled charity was her husband Peter.

"It was wonderful to see her back home again, looking fit and well after such a demanding journey. She looked so perky that you would have thought she'd just completed a flight from nowhere in particular," he said.

Mrs Vacher's safe arrival last night brought to an end her second solo voyage around the world. It was another achievement for the record books after she flew around the globe east to west two years ago. "It has been a thrilling adventure but I am so pleased to be home," she said. "Now I am looking forward to a bit of rest and recuperation with my husband and family. We are going on a short holiday to Devon with no telephones or computers."

After the welcome reception, Mrs Vacher returned home to her farmhouse near Drayton where she hosted a celebration dinner party for 20 guests.

There will be no more around-the-world journeys for Mrs Vacher, who celebrated her 60 birthday while flying over the Bahamas. She said: "I have completed two world trips and now is the time to call it a day and spend more time with my husband and family."

But there is always a challenge lurking for Polly Vacher - husband Peter is restoring a 1940 Hawker Hurricane fighter and when it's airworthy Mrs Vacher says she just can't wait to get behind the controls. But this aircraft will definitely not be for jaunts around the world.