A man has died after a hot air balloon caught fire and plummeted to the ground in Worcestershire.

Witnesses said they saw a fireball coming from the craft before it “dropped like a stone” on to some trees near the village of Ombersley.

The man, said to be aged in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene following the accident at around 6.20am on Sunday.

Pictures show the balloon hundreds of feet in the air moments before it plunged to earth.

One witness said: “There were lots of balloons in the sky because it was clear and sunny despite being so early.

“Suddenly there was a flash and what looked like a fireball coming from a blue balloon and it just dropped like a stone.

“My wife heard terrible screaming and then silence. We called the emergency services but had difficulty getting through on the 999 number because it was down.

“We finally got through but it was just too high for anyone to survive. It was a terrible thing to see.”

Firefighters, paramedics and police rushed to the scene but were unable to save the male pilot who was declared dead at the scene.

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has confirmed it is investigating.

It said in a statement: “An accident near Ombersley, Worcestershire involving a balloon was reported to the AAIB this morning and we are deploying a team to the site.”

This weekend saw hundreds of people enjoying the first ever Worcester Balloon Festival at the city’s racecourse.

The event was cancelled last month due to bad weather and was rearranged to take place from Friday to Saturday evening.

But an event spokesperson said: “There was an incident this morning, under investigation, it wasn’t the festival it was independent.

“The festival finished last night, it was not connected to the festival.”

A West Mercia Police spokesperson said: “At 6.20am this morning police received a call a hot air balloon had deflated and fallen to the ground near the A449 at Ombersley.

“The balloon fell to the ground in a field off Holt Fleet Road, near Ombersley Court.

“Emergency services attended and unfortunately a man was pronounced dead by paramedics.”