Pilot aged 76 walks away from crash in Cheltenham back garden after deploying plane's parachute

The man, who has not been named, suffered only minor injuries after aircraft parachutes down in the Warden Hill area

Video: An eyewitness captures the plane parachuting in Cheltenham

A 76-year-old pilot from London has cheated death today after his Cirrus single-engine aircraft crashed into a back garden.

The man, who has not been named, suffered only minor injuries after the aircraft came down in the in the Warden Hill area of Cheltenham.

The pilot deployed a parachute on the plane shortly before the crash.

The owner of the house in Langdale Road was uninjured when the Cirrus crashed, a Gloucestershire Police spokesman said.

"The emergency services were called to a report of a plane coming down in the back garden of a house in Langdale Road in Cheltenham at approximately 10.45am today," the spokesman said.

"The pilot, a 76-year-old man from London, has suffered minor injuries and is currently being treated at the scene by paramedics.

"The homeowner was uninjured. Nearby houses have been evacuated as a precaution while the fire service make the scene safe."

The scene of the accident is just 2.5 miles from Gloucestershire Airport, at Staverton, near Cheltenham.

Police said that during the incident the pilot deployed the plane's parachute.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire police said no houses had to be evacuated following the crash.