WW2 Spitfire emergency landing after losing power

The Spitfire landed in a field in West Hythe

A World War Two Spitfire has been forced to make an emergency landing in Kent after losing power.

Spitfire MJ627 came down in a field on Lower Wall Road, West Hythe, on Saturday evening, said its owner Fly a Spitfire.

Kent Fire & Rescue Service said one of the two people in the plane, which saw action over the Netherlands in 1944, was treated by paramedics.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch has launched an investigation into what caused the loss of power.

The aircraft's propeller was badly damaged

Fly a Spitfire said: "We have spoken to the pilot who has advised that a precautionary landing was made at a non-airfield site."

The company said the pilot and passenger "are uninjured", adding that it had no further information "at this stage".

The fire service said two fire engines attended the scene at 19:25 BST and made the aircraft safe.

Spitfire MJ627 first entered service on 25 September 1944 and, just two days later, destroyed a Messerschmitt Me 109 over Arnhem.

It was previously involved in an emergency landing in 1998, when its pilot made a "wheels up landing" at Coventry Airport.

Last year, the cockpit canopy detached from the plane during take-off from Biggin Hill Airport.

It was able to land safely and neither of the two occupants in that incident were harmed.