A PARACHUTIST has spoken of the moment he drifted two miles from his target landing on his first jump and got caught in a tree 60ft above the ground.

Pracheen Gemawat, 21, got disorientated when his ropes became twisted 3,500 feet over County Durham on Friday afternoon.

The Northumbria University student eventually landed in Peterlee town centre, in east Durham, about two miles from the Peterlee Parachute Centre at the nearby Shotton Airfield, at about 3.20pm.

Mr Gemawat: “I was circling 360 degrees around two or three times.

“There was a twist in the rope so I had to get out of that and when I did I just lost track of where I was.

“I saw a field and thought I would land there. I did not realise I was so far from the airfield. I thought I was at about 500ft but misjudged it and could see the tree coming up.

“I thought I would go past it but at about 200ft I realised I was going to crash and thought: ‘Oh, no’ and boom, I hit it.”

Mr Gemawat, who is originally from Mumbai, India, and is studying psychology and sport science, landed in the top of a copse of conifer trees behind the Methodist Memorial Church and East Durham Funeral Service in Bede Way.

Almost 40 firefighters from the County Durham and Darlington and Cleveland fire brigades took more than three hours to get him down safely using an aerial ladder platform.

Mr Gemawat, who was full of praise for his rescuers, hopes to meet them to have a picture taken with them for friends and family back in India.

He added: “Some guys asked if I was alright and I said: ‘Yeah, I’m just enjoying the weather.”

His flatmate in Heaton, Newcastle, Eanna Flanagan, was supposed to jump with him but was unable to when the air crew lost sight of Mr Gemawat.

He said: “The guidelines are that no-one else can jump if you cannot locate a student so he was left at the edge of the plane, unable to jump.”

Despite his ordeal Mr Gemawat, who escaped with cuts and bruises, said he would still like to have another go at the high octane adrenaline sport.

He added: “I might have to study where things are a bit more, but it was still an amazing experience.”