A PILOT had a lucky escape after being forced to make an emergency landing when he ran out of fuel mid flight.

Rory McCarthy guided the light aircraft into a field between Long Load and Muchelney on Thursday having bought the plane the previous day.

A nearby resident watched it descend at speed over their house and clip a hedge before landing at about 3pm. Mr McCarthy, of Bordon, Hampshire, escaped uninjured, but his fall sparked a major rescue response from the emergency services.

The pilot went off with a local resident to find fuel and when he returned with a Jerry can he found police officers, firefighters, an ambulance crew and a police helicopter circling overhead. The pilot took off again at about 4.30pm.

Langport PCSO Ben Middleditch was first on the scene.

He said: "I was in the area when the call was put out as a resident thought the plane may have crashed. I saw the plane in the middle of a field, but the pilot was not there. It looked like it had clipped a low hedge. He was very lucky to escape unharmed.

"He later returned with a local resident who had taken him to get fuel as it ran on normal petrol. He said he had bought the plane the day before and it was his 50th birthday the next day."

A Long Load resident said: "I heard the noise of the plane and it was making a spluttering sound like a lawn mower. It flew over us and at one stage I thought it was going to land on our house.

"It landed in fields nearby and it was not long before I heard the sirens of emergency vehicles."

Mr McCarthy was unavailable for comment as the Western Gazette went to press. It is not know why he was flying his Murphy Renegade Spirit 912 in the area.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch said it was aware of the incident, but as there was no damage to the plane and the pilot was uninjured then they would not be taking the matter any further.