A hot air balloon caused mayhem when it landed in the middle of a road in Northampton.

Pilot Matt Rate had to act quickly and do an emergency landing when the wind suddenly dropped, leaving him and two passengers "hanging in mid-air".

"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," Rate told the BBC.

Luckily, no one was injured in the forced landing on Friday evening. Rate said the main obstacles while landing the balloon in Hilldrop Road were people's homes and a lamp-post.

"The only control you have is up and down," he said.

"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."

Rate, who started ballooning when he was 10, was able to notify his ground team, who cordoned off an area of the road to traffic before the landing,

Police were also alerted around 9pm by members of the public who saw the balloon come down.

A spokesman said: "Officers attended and it was established there had been no accident.

"The balloon had just landed in an unexpected spot."

Residents of the street where it landed helped the pilot fold up the balloon.