Three military jets in near-miss over Norfolk

The Tornado's pilot told investigators that the risk of collision was "very high"

An RAF bomber and two US fighter jets involved in a near-miss over Norfolk were hampered by a communication mix-up, a report has revealed.

A Tornado GR4, from RAF Marham, and two US F-15s, based at RAF Lakenheath, came within 300ft of one another on 26 May.

The Tornado pilot told the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near-misses, he thought the risk of crashing near Downham Market was "very high".

The board has told the bases to "review their co-ordination procedures".

The report said the near-miss happened as the Tornado departed Marham relying on "visual flight rules", despite broken cloud.

Its navigator then spotted a pair of F-15s on their flight path and told the pilot to "roll out and level off" as the F-15s passed just 300ft overhead.

The two F-15 jets were returning to their base at RAF Lakenheath

According to the report, the Tornado pilot had received an "overload" of information from the air traffic control service at Marham.

They had been contacted by their counterparts at Lakenheath in Suffolk to agree last-minute instructions to all crews.

Investigators also found the Marham controller had selected the wrong initial frequency, leading to an information delay.

The F-15s were descending at the time as they prepared to return to their base at 09:25 BST.

The board rated the near-miss as a "category C" incident, meaning there was "no risk of collision".

HQ Air Command said the shortfalls identified by the board - such as improved co-ordination between both bases' controllers and an upgraded departure procedure at Marham - had been addressed.