Northamptonshire light plane crash couple found in pub

The Dufton Europa light aircraft was built in 1995 and registered in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire

A couple who were in a light aircraft that crashed in a Northamptonshire field escaped unhurt and were found by ambulance crews in a nearby pub.

The Dufton Europa plane crash landed in a field in Maidwell on Thursday afternoon.

Emergency services were called to the field, but found an empty plane.

Ambulance crews found the pilot Iain McKay and his wife, of Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, at the The Stags Head, where they had walked after the ordeal.

Manager Simon Nixon served the pair at The Stags Head pub in Maidwell

Simon Nixon, the manager of the pub, said: "A lady came in her with her husband. It was not until she ordered a drink (non-alcoholic) that she said she was a bit shaken up because she'd just had a plane crash. I asked if she was OK and she had a little bit of a cut to her arm. Other than that she seemed OK.

"It's not often you have plane crashes where people are able to walk away."

An off duty policeman alerted the ambulance crews of the couple's whereabouts.

An East Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said an ambulance and an air ambulance went to the accident at about 16:30 BST.

"Both patients were found away from the aircraft and were checked over by the doctor but didn't require any further treatment," she said.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch has yet to comment.