AN ARMY Lynx helicopter made an unexpected landing in a field in Ryedale this weekend.

The aircraft - from the 9 Regiment Army Air Corps base at Dishforth, near Ripon - came down north of Fryton, near Hovingham, on Thursday night.

Stranded in a field down a narrow country lane, the flight crew had bring a Land Rover, crane and low loading trailer to recover the helicopter.

A spokesman for the regiment said: "The helicopter was on a routine night patrol when it experienced a minor malfunction, and the two crew on board decided to make a precautionary landing in a field.

"No one was injured, and the aircraft has since been recovered. The crew want to thank the landowner and the local police for their help."

Farmer and district councillor Robert Wainwright took pictures of the aircraft being towed up the village lane. He said : "The crew said they had a problem on Thursday night when the cabin started filling up with smoke, so they came down in a field north of Fryton.

"They had to sit with it overnight until Friday, when a great gang of them came to remove the rotors, and on Saturday afternoon they came with a Land Rover to tow it up the lane."

A crowd of interested villagers gathered to watch the recovery process, including a group of children who had been enjoying a children's party at a home in the hamlet, and the Army crew spent an hour and a half slowly pulling the craft up the narrow lane towards the B1257.

At the top of the lane, the crew used a crane to lift the craft onto a low loading trailer to take it away.

Cllr Wainwright added: "The helicopter was then going to taken to Portsmouth for investigations into the problem."