Parachutist crashes into side of Shotton Colliery house

The parachutist was suspended from the TV aerial on the property's gable end

A parachutist has been seriously injured after crashing into the side of a house in County Durham.

The 51-year-old man was jumping from Peterlee Parachute Centre when he came down in Shotton Colliery on Sunday.

The resident of the property on Station Road found him dangling by his harness from the TV aerial on its gable end.

He was brought down by emergency services and taken to hospital suffering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Alan Stainsby heard what he at first thought was a car crash

Householder Alan Stainsby was watching the Wimbledon final when he heard a "sickening thud".

"At first I thought it was a car crash", he said.

"All kinds of things were going through my mind, so I went out and the parachutist was literally hanging off the aerial."

Peterlee Parachute Centre said that 10,000 people had jumped from the centre last year and there was just one injury, a dislocated shoulder.

The British Parachute Association confirmed it has received a report on the incident.

In 2016, parachutist Pamela Gower died when she crashed to the ground in a nearby housing estate during a charity skydive from the same centre.