A pilot was killed today when a light aircraft crashed and burst into a ball of flames in a field in Staffordshire.

This dramatic picture taken this afternoon shows the charred remains of the obliterated aircraft.

Firefighters were this afternoon trying to establish if there were any more people in the plane when it crashed off Meadow Lane, Little Haywood, between Stafford and Rugeley.

Click here to see more pictures.

The plane crashed into overhead railway power lines near a rail junction at around 11.50am and ended up between the two tracks.

The air ambulance, a land ambulance, three paramedics and a rapid response vehicle were all scrambled. Ambulance Service spokesman Murray McGregor: “Paramedics were at the scene within three minutes but there was nothing they could do.”

A Staffordshire police spokeswoman said: “There are potentially two fatalities from the aircraft, but until further investigations have been carried out and families informed, we cannot give any more information.”

The stretch of railway had to be closed following the crash, causing major disruption to train services between London Euston and the North West, via Wolverhampton.

Michael Wareham, of Wolseley Close, Colwich, saw the drama unfold just a few hundred yards from his home and called 999.

The former paratrooper said he fears that no-one will leave the wreckage alive after seeing the plane plummet to the ground.

He said: “I saw it flying over and I went into the back garden and saw the aircraft – I thought: ‘This is a bit low.

“I thought it’s not going to pull out of there.’ and then it vanished from sight and I heard this hard thump and saw a huge plume of black smoke coming up from the ground.”

Mr Wareham said he couldn’t understand why the plane had crashed as the engine sounded as if it was working normally.

He said: “The engine actually increased in speed as it came down, which planes do when you put them into a dive.

“There was no damage I could see and no indication it was actually going to come down at all until it did.”