A new flag for Wiltshire has stirred up the interest of a Wiltshire Times reader living more than 3,000 miles away.

When Mike Prior, 61, from Trowbridge, designed and launched a flag for the county, he was shocked when his first order came in from the USA, 24 hours before a story revealing details about it was published in the Wiltshire Times.

The order was from attorney Brian Malsberger, (48), from Washington DC who had logged on to the Wiltshire Times’ website www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk, spotted the online version of the story about to appear in the paper and e-mailed Mike.

Mike said: “It was a surprise as the paper hadn’t even come out but I was really pleased. We have had a lot of interest and it is going really well.”

The flag enthusiast created the flag with the help of his daughter, Helen Pocock.

It was raised up a flagpole in his garden last month by Lord Bath and Trowbridge mayor Tom James.