Two people have died after a helicopter crashed on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, it has been confirmed.

The aircraft came down in a field off Bentham Road near Burton in Lonsdale, North Yorkshire, just before midday.

Emergency services, including an air ambulance, were scrambled to the scene as police urged people to avoid the area.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "A full investigation is underway into the cause of a helicopter crash near Ingleton.

"Two people were sadly killed as a result of the crash. Their families are being supported by specially trained officers."

The force said a full road closure was in place on the A65 and at the junction of Bentham Moor Road and have urged people to avoid the area.

Ben Slinger, 35, the manager of a local fabrications business said locals were told there was a pilot and at least one passenger onboard the helicopter before it crashed.

He said he’d spoken to other locals at the scene who believed police and fire crews were searching for an individual who may have 'bailed out' before the helicopter went down.

He said: “The helicopter was on fire. We heard that the pilot was alive, but one or two other people were missing and may have bailed out of the helicopter before it crashed.

“I think police helicopters were searching for somebody.

“We went for a look as it’s only round the corner and somebody said that. The fire crew were searching up and down the fields, and there was a police helicopter with a thermal imaging camera.

“It certainly looked like they were looking for somebody. We could see the fire brigade searching the fields."

Ben said his attention was only drawn to the crash when an air ambulance arrived on scene after mid-day.

He said: “I didn’t hear anything. The first I heard was the ambulance. I then had a look round to see what was happening.

“We don’t get many helicopters landing round us. I sort of know the person who farms the field. My first concern was something happening to him.

“Then I found out it was a helicopter crash, which was a shock."

Locals from the nearby Rivers Edge Holiday Home & Lodge Park caravan site, in Ingleton, North Yorks., said they were left in “shock” following the crash earlier in the day.

One of the site's staff members confirmed that people from the site had “assisted” with the incident but wouldn’t give any further details.

She said: “There was a crash. People from the site went over and assisted. The manager is a bit in shock.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service confirmed the air ambulance was dispatched to the scene but would not confirm the number of casualties.