The chairman of a writing group in Warminster, who was airlifted to hospital after breaking her back in a horse riding accident, has launched the group’s latest anthology in aid of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal.

Lord Bath helped Warminster Writers Circle launch Circle Crop, a book full of poetry, prose, short stories and articles, at the Great Hall in Longleat on Monday.

All the proceeds of the book, which costs £5, will go to the appeal, which was chosen by chairman, Sue Bacon, of Bradford on Avon, who broke three vertebrae during a horse riding accident in Bradford on Avon three years ago.

She said: “It was one of those freak accidents. She went up in the air and she came back down. I don’t remember much.

“I was then staring at the beautiful sky in pain. I knew I had done something because I couldn’t lift one of my legs at all. I was very grateful when they told me we’d be at the Royal United Hospital in Bath in seven minutes.”

Miss Bacon, who is back horse riding again, has already raised £180 for the charity by organising a sponsored dressage event last September and is hoping the anthology will raise more than £1,000.

“We sold 50 per cent of this first edition of the book, so we’ll have to order some more,” she said. “It’s a wonderful book because there’s something for everyone.

“There’s a sense of the natural world as well as ghosts, witches and suspicious death.”

Miss Bacon, who has been circle chairman for four years, thanked Lord Bath for his hospitality.

“I thought he was lovely – very charming,” she said. “We offered him a free copy of the book, but he said he wanted to pay for one because it was such a good cause.

“It was a great evening. Virtually all of the members who contributed were there, as well as representatives from Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Cromwell Press and a number of other authors.”

The group, which has 25 members, only had five when it was started 24 years ago by president Joan Moules, who also contributed to the book.

The anthology also includes contributions from international crime writer Peter Lovesey and was printed in Trowbridge by Cromwell Press.

The 125-page book is available now for £5 from Warminster Library, Warminster Book Shop, Ex-Libris in Bradford on Avon and via the air ambulance website at www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk.