Pilot and wife die as plane hits mountain

A British pilot and his wife died when their light aircraft crashed near the French Riviera. James and Jacqueline Balmer, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, set off from Italy and were making their way towards Troyes, 100 miles south-east of Paris.

The wreckage of their aircraft was discovered yesterday on Mont Agel, between the port of Menton and the principality of Monaco. The bodies of Mr Balmer, 68, and his wife, 54, were taken to the nearby city of Nice.