British most successful Paralympics team in two decades returned home on Thursday on a gold-nosed plane.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown met Great Britain (GB) team members at Heathrow Airport.

Britain won 102 medals, including 42 golds, in China to finish second in the medals table behind the host nation.

GB chief Phil Lane hailed a "wonderful performance" but told reporters at Heathrow he was looking forward to the future.

"This is one of the top Paralympic performances we have had and will be a tough act to follow, but we need to get the recruitment right," he said.

China topped the medal table in Beijing, winning an astonishing 87 golds out of a total of 207, having invested heavily in Paralympic sport and bolstering their squad.

Mr Lane wanted to see a similar drive ahead of his term's home Paralympics.

Of the 206 British Paralympic athletes in Beijing, 80 won a medal and 30 won gold. Just over half of the team were appearing at their first Paralympic Games.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2008)