A PILOT whose aircraft plunged into woodland near Oakmere asked the first policeman on the scene to tell his wife he'd crashed his plane.

Father-of-four Paul Connolly from Southport escaped from the burning wreckage but spent his 53rd birthday in hospital on Tuesday suffering from second degree burns and a broken arm.

His wife Vivienne said the family were in shock following the accident.

'I was numb when the police told me what happened, I could have been a widow and my children could have been fatherless,' she said.

The pilot suffered a broken arm and second-degree burns in the accident, which left his plane dangling 30ft up.

PC Steve Turner said: 'We found him sitting on the side of the road with the person who had made the emergency call. He had clearly been badly burned but he was conscious and speaking.

'His main concern was 'can you ring my wife and tell her I've crashed.

'He was also concerned Liverpool control tower knew he'd gone down. He is an extremely lucky man and I told him to pick my next set of Lottery numbers.'

Theplaneburstinto flamesbutthepilot freed himself and fell to the ground.

He is in a comfortable condition at Wythenshawe Hospital and his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The TB10 light aircraft had taken off from John Lennon Airport at 8.30pm and the pilot radioed the Liverpool air traffic control tower just before 9pm to say he was experiencing engine problems.

Cheshire police said people reported seeing an aircraft in trouble above Hogshead Lane in Oakmere and that the plane came down in trees on Forestry Commission land.

Mark Colman, a station manager from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the treetops absorbed some of the impact.