A Royal Navy helicopter has crashed into a field in Devon, police have said.
Emergency services are at the scene of the incident at Sourton Down, near Okehampton. Several road closures are in place around the A386 and A30 Sourton Cross slip and services area.
A Devon and Cornwall police spokesperson said: “The incident is ongoing and we will share more updates as we have them. The Ministry of Defence have confirmed it was a Royal Navy helicopter.”
Speaking in the House of Commons, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, said: “I’m aware of a Royal Navy helicopter crash this morning in Devon. This will be a deeply worrying time for the families and more information will be set out as soon as possible.”
There are several naval bases near the crash site, which is on the edge of Dartmoor. HMNB Devonport in Plymouth, on the south-western edge of Dartmoor, is the largest naval base in western Europe. Other nearby bases include RM Tamar, CTCRM Lympstone and BRNC Dartmouth.
The area is between the Royal Navy’s airbases at Yeovilton in Somerset and Culdrose in Cornwall.
It is not known what type of helicopter crashed but the two primary types used by the Royal Navy are the Merlin and the Wildcat.
The scene of the crash is close to Okehampton battle camp, a military facility on the edge of Dartmoor which has been used for training Merlin helicopter crew from the commando helicopter force.
In a brief statement, a Royal Navy spokesperson, said: “An incident occurred involving a Royal Navy helicopter just before 0400 on Wednesday 3 June near Sourton, Devon. An investigation is under way and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theguardian.com ’
