A man has died in a light aircraft crash on the Essex-Suffolk border, police said.

The man, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene in Belchamp Walter, near Sudbury, at about noon on Sunday.

Essex Police said they were called to the scene by reports of a “light aircraft in distress” at 11.50am and eight fire engines from Essex and Suffolk went to the scene.

The crash site is about five miles from Ridgewell Airfield, the home of Essex Gliding Club.

An Essex Police spokesman said the man’s next of kin had been informed.