A BRASTED resident has been named as the pilot killed in a helicopter crash.

Robert Crofts-Bolster, 50, formerly of the High Street, died from multiple traumatic injuries after his Robinson R22 helicopter came down in a field near Ely, Cambridgeshire.

The 50-year-old had been flying between Manston Airport in Kent and Fenland Airfield in Spalding, Lincolnshire, when the accident happened shortly before 11.30am on January 6.

An inquest into the death was opened and adjourned by William Morris, coroner for north and east Cambridgeshire, on Tuesday.

East of England Ambulance Service crews received reports that an aircraft carrying one person had landed in a field off Lancaster Road, Ely.

A spokesman said: "Our hazardous area response team attended the incident, as well as the air ambulance, but the man was sadly declared deceased on the scene.

"Our thoughts are with his family."

A witness told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire that they heard a loud bang and saw a black helicopter crash to the ground, landing upside down.

The engine was heard to "judder and splutter" before a "big thud" rang out and the craft came down in the field.

Police said the impact broke off the aircraft's rotors, separated the tail and spread debris across several nearby fields.

A police cordon around the wreckage remained in place until January 7 when the Air Accident Investigation Bureau, working overnight, completed their assessment of the scene.

No injuries were reported on the ground despite the helicopter coming down close to a hunt, dog walkers and many nearby homes and businesses.

Mr Crofts-Bolster's family preferred not to comment.