Police have named the pilot of a private light aircraft who was killed when it crashed at an airfield in Cumbria.

Ian Branson from Wigton died when his single-seater gyrocopter came down shortly after take-off as a crowd looked on.

The 55-year-old's wife was among the spectators, and she is being counselled by specially-trained officers.

The crash happened at Kirkbride Airfield near Wigton, at about 1640GMT on Saturday.

Accident investigators are trying to establish the cause.

The victim was declared dead at the scene.

'Hobby'

A gyrocopter is like a microlight, but has a vertical shaft with rotors on top to provide lift and another to provide thrust.

A spokesman for Cumbria police said: "Normally they [gyrocopters] are very stable and seat two people, but they require a private licence which is easier to get than for a helicopter.

"This is why people have them as hobby and as leisure craft - you cannot buy then commercially, you have to build them.

"We have quite a few in Cumbria but they do not often crash, they normally settle on the ground relatively bump free."

Kirkbride Airfield is used by private pilots.