THE crew of Wiltshire Air Ambulance were last night forced to abort a landing in Chippenham after being subjected to a laser attack.

The life-saving charity posted message on Twitter condemning the attack on their helicopter, saying: “This evening the crew of HM22 were subjected to a laser attack from an area in Chippenham resulting in an aborted landing.

“Shining a laser at an aircraft is a criminal offence, carries an unlimited fine and up to five years in prison.

"The Police are searching for the offender.”

It is understood the crew, comprising chief pilot Matt Wilcock and two paramedics, was on a training flight.

They had planned to land at Hardenhuish School but were forced to abort the landing at 7.30pm followinge the laser attack.

The charity's spokesman Adam Baker said: "This was clearly very risky for the guys up there.

"Fortunately, they were not on an emergency mission but clearly it is a very serious incident."

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