BRITISH astronaut Major Tim Peake has sent a message of thanks from space to the staff who treated his mother in law at a Scottish hospital.

Nurses at Perth Royal Infirmary said they were over the moon after receiving the message from Major Peake as he orbits the earth in the International Space Station (ISS).

Major Peake posed for a photograph of himself holding up a sign which reads “Thank you NHS PRI for all you do!!” after his mother-in-law Madeleine King spent time as a patient in the hospital's ward eight.

Staff on the ward say they were thrilled to receive the picture and plan to have it framed and hung on the ward.

Senior charge nurse Samantha Edmonds said, “It was a lovely thing for Major Peake to do and it has given all the staff on the ward a real lift.”

Associate nurse director Jim Foulis added: “The brightest stars are those who shine for others and I am very proud of the staff here in PRI that the high quality of care they provide for their patients has been recognised in the highest of places.”

Major Peake will spend six months on board the ISS where he will conduct scientific experiments and carry out educational projects designed to attract young people into science.

He blasted off in December and the former Army major is the first Briton to join the crew of the ISS and is employed by the European Space Agency.

Helen Sharman became the first British citizen to travel to space when she visited the Soviet space station Mir in 1991.

Other Britons who have flown into space have done so either as private individuals or by taking US citizenship.

Mr Peake's wife Rebecca grew up in Comrie and the couple and their two children regularly return to visit.