An Aldridge artist has won a champagne balloon flight after she took part in an opticians competition to find some super specs.

Christine Capewell of Lazyhill Road,entered Colin Lee's Retro Specs with a huge pair of glases she had worn in 1974 to help add an air of mystery to her look.

Mrs Capewell had been a young art teacher at the time and believed the over sized specs which have a special tint helped give her confidence.I hid behind them a little bit,but also,I  thought they added an air of mystery to me,espicially with the darkened lilac tint.They were much better than Deidre Barlows,they were designer specs and cost over £75,which was about 2 weeks wages at the time.Mrs Capewell,who has been a customer at Colin Lees Opticians for 12 years,was able to choose fromthree experience days as her prize,and opted for the balloon flight to help celebrate her aniversary.Iam not a great flyer,but I knew my husband Steve would love this, so we will try and take the flight in April,close to our anniversary.This year will be the 10th,and we did not do much to celebrate so this is perfect.

Colin Lee Director,Clive Marchant said it had been a close run competition,but he liked the story behind Christines specs,as well as the fact they had given every one a giggle.We hoped to get some flash backs to the 70's with the competition and even managed to find a winning pair which out dated the company.The Retro specs competition was run across Colin Lee's seven shops as part of the companys 30th anniversary celebrations,with the aim of finding frames which were funny or unusual.It was also designed to high light Vision Aid Overseas,a charity helping people with vision difficulties in third world countries.