Balloon crash lands in garden

Mike Whittam photographed the balloon as it landed in the garden

A hot air balloon had to make a crash landing in the garden of a house in West Sussex.

The balloon was forced to touch down in the grounds of the house in Lindfield on Sunday evening after it became caught in the branches of a large oak tree.

It belongs to Chad Ballooning, which is based in Lindfield and offers scenic rides across Kent and Sussex.

Mike Scholes, owner of Chad Ballooning and chief pilot at the time of the incident, said none of the balloon's eight passengers had been hurt.

It was a most unusual place to land - the owners and their neighbours came to help Balloon pilot Mike Scholes

The balloon was supposed to land in a nearby park but variable winds had blown it into the trees as it approached its destination at about 2045 BST, he said.

"If we had done another 30 yards it would have been fine," he said.

"Some of the rigging was caught in the trees so we had to land it in someone's garden and ended up deflating it there.

"It was a most unusual place to land - the owners and their neighbours came to help."

Mr Scholes said all the passengers, aged between about 20 and 45, had said they would fly again after the trip.

Family followed balloon

The pilot, who set up Chad Ballooning two years ago and has been flying balloons since 1991, said it was the first time he had had to land in a back garden.

Mike Whittam, from Haywards Heath, was in a restaurant having dinner with his wife and young son when he first spotted the red balloon.

The family then decided to follow it to see where it was headed - and watched as it made its emergency landing.

He said: "We drove behind to have a look and took a couple of shots. It was a really nice sight and a lovely colour.

"Then the balloon was coming down and they were trying to get it back up again."

He said when it landed it took up the whole of the back garden of the detached house in Denmans Close.