Five people were killed when two light aircraft collided in mid-air near Coventry yesterday, West Midlands ambulance service said.

One aircraft came down in Brandon Woods, killing four people at the scene, while a second crashed about a mile away in farmland between Brinklow and Coventry, leaving the single occupant dead.

A spokesman for West Midlands ambulance service said: "Five people have died after a mid-air collision between two light aircraft in Warwickshire".

Coventry Airport was closed following the collision, Sky News reported.

West Midlands Ambulance spokesman Richard Topping said it had been hard to reach the plane that came down in the woods.

"Emergency services got there as quickly as possible, but unfortunately there was nothing they could do," he told BBC Television.

"It was a very difficult incident to deal with."

The planes came down at about 11.30 a.m. near Coombe Abbey luxury hotel, though the building was undamaged.

Debris from the Cessna 407, which was carrying the four people, and the other light aircraft stretched across several miles, Mr Topping added. An Air Accidents Investigation Branch team was to launch an inquiry.