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| 'Mayhem' in Northampton as hot-air balloon lands in street | 'Mayhem' in Northampton as hot-air balloon lands in street |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A hot-air balloon pilot has told how he "caused mayhem" after he was forced to land in the middle of a street. | A hot-air balloon pilot has told how he "caused mayhem" after he was forced to land in the middle of a street. |
| The balloon was brought down by Matt Rate in Hilldrop Road, Northampton, on Friday evening. | |
| Mr Rate said the wind had suddenly dropped and if he had left the landing any later he could have come down over the town centre. | |
| "It was the safest option at the time," he said. Both Mr Rate and his two passengers were unharmed. | |
| "I told the two passengers 'it is going to be tricky' and to trust me. I think people were a bit shocked that I got the balloon down into such a tight shape." | |
| Mr Rate had called his ground-based crew to let them know about the lack of wind and what he was planning to do. | |
| Before coming down in the street he tried landing in a nearby park. But as he was descending he realised he was at risk of striking a tree and decided to pull up and find an alternative landing site. | |
| As he came towards Hilldrop Road, his ground team sectioned off an area of the road to traffic. | |
| "The only control you have is up and down," said Mr Rate, who first got into ballooning at the age of 10 or 11. | |
| "In a way this was the same as any other landing. You have to compose yourself and not damage anything - you have to have that heightened awareness and be completely on the ball." | |
| The main obstacles in the Hilldrop Road landing were people's homes and a lamp-post. | |
| Once he landed, residents in the area helped him fold up the balloon's envelope. | |
| A police spokeswoman said they were alerted shortly before 21:00 BST by members of the public who had seen the balloon come down. | |
| "Officers attended and it was established there had been no accident," said the spokeswoman. "The balloon had just landed in an unexpected spot." | |
| Were you in the area when the hot-air balloon landed? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Northampton hot-air balloon' in the subject heading and including your contact details. | Were you in the area when the hot-air balloon landed? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Northampton hot-air balloon' in the subject heading and including your contact details. |
| Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. | Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. |
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