TWO men and a woman died yesterday when their helicopter crashed into farmland soon after it disappeared into heavy cloud in dark, wintry weather.

The Gazelle, which had previously belonged to the Royal Navy, burst into flames on hitting the ground near the Gloucestershire town of Winchcombe.

Police did not immediately identify the victims, who are believed to have been flying from Stratford-upon-Avon to Yeovilton, Somerset.

The Gazelle, which was built in 1974, has been jointly registered since 2004 to Roderick Paskey, a company director, of Tamworth, Staf-fordshire, and Christopher Evans, of Atherstone, War-wickshire. Evans, formerly director of a helicopter chauffeuring firm, is due to turn 50 on Wednesday. It is understand that Paskey, 55, is among the victims.

The last moments of the Gazelle and its passengers were described by Janet Ran-some, who was taking her dog for a walk. “We saw a yellow helicopter flying over the farmland just below us. It went into a patch of low cloud and we didn’t hear it any more,” she said. “Then five or 10 minutes later a police helicopter appeared and was hovering overhead.

“The visibility when it happened at about midday really was very poor - it was cold, dark, cloudy and very wintry. I would have thought the conditions for flying were very hazardous.”

Michael Abbatt, who lives at the 200-acre Langley Hill Farm, where the helicopter crashed, said: “It has come down on one of the highest spots in Gloucestershire. It is a terrible tragedy.”

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