Two men were injured when a police helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing.

The Dyfed Powys police helicopter was returning to the force headquarters in Carmarthen, west Wales, when the pilot had to land in a field near Gorslas.

The civilian pilot and one of the two police officers on board suffered minor injuries.

They were taken to West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen but both were discharged shortly afterwards.

The other officer was unharmed.

A police spokesman said the helicopter, which was seriously damaged, now has to be recovered.

He said: "The helicopter was returning after airlifting an injured person to hospital when it had to make an emergency landing in a field.

"The aircraft came down on open land but sustained serious damage on landing.

"Nobody was badly hurt and nothing on the ground has been damaged at all."

It is not yet known what triggered the emergency landing at 1520 GMT on Christmas Day.

The incident has been reported to the Air Accident Investigation Branch and will also be reported to the Civilian Aviation Authority.

The region had been hit by two inches of snow over Christmas but the bad weather is not thought to have been behind the emergency landing.

The damaged eight-seat Augusta 109 Power is Dyfed Powys Police's only helicopter.