A video from Thomas Beresford shows emergency services at the scene and an air ambulance taking off.

 

EMERGENCY services are at the scene of an incident off Bentham Road near Burton in Lonsdale, on the back road between Ingleton and Bentham where a helicopter has crashed into a field, North Yorkshire Police have said.

The incident happened shortly before midday today.

People are strongly urged to avoid the area. Up to two dozen emergency vehicles are said to be at the scene.

No further information from police is available at this time.

The crash happened on the outskirts of the Rivers Edge Holiday Park. A spokesman for the site said head office had asked them not to comment at this time. 

Unoffical reports were that it was a privately owned helicopter and that there was a Ukrainian passenger on board, but that has not been confirmed.

Ben Slinger, 35, the manager of a local fabrications business said locals were told there was a pilot and at least one passenger onboard the helicopter before it crashed into the field in Burton in Lonsdale.

He said he’d spoken to other locals at the scene who believed police and fire crews were searching for an individual who may have 'bailed out' before the helicopter went down.

He said: “The helicopter was on fire. We heard that the pilot was alive, but one or two other people were missing and may have bailed out of the helicopter before it crashed.

“I think police helicopters were searching for somebody.

“We went for a look as it’s only round the corner and somebody said that. The fire crew were searching up and down the fields, and there was a police helicopter with a thermal imaging camera.

“It certainly looked like they were looking for somebody. We could see the fire brigade searching the fields."

Ben said his attention was only drawn to the crash when an air ambulance arrived on scene after mid-day.

He said: “I didn’t hear anything. The first I heard was the ambulance. I then had a look round to see what was happening.

“We don’t get many helicopters landing round us. I sort of know the person who farms the field. My first concern was something happening to him.

“Then I found out it was a helicopter crash, which was a shock."

Locals from the nearby Rivers Edge Holiday Home & Lodge Park caravan site, in Ingleton, North Yorks., said they were left in “shock” following the crash earlier in the day.

One of the site's staff members confirmed that people from the site had “assisted” with the incident but wouldn’t give any further details.

She said: “There was a crash. People from the site went over and assisted. The manager is a bit in shock.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service confirmed the air ambulance was dispatched to the scene but would not confirm the number of casualties.

The AAIB (Air Accidents Investigation Branch) said: "An accident involving a light helicopter near Burton in Lonsdale, North Yorkshire, has been notified to the AAIB. An investigation has been launched and a team of inspectors are travelling to the accident site to begin making enquiries."