VILLAGERS have remembered the day their community was shattered by a horrific aircraft smash.

Two airmen from RAF Leeming were killed when their Hawk jet hit a railway bridge and exploded on the outskirts of Shap, Cumbria, ten years ago.

Squadron Leader Mike Andrews, 38, from Hampshire, and his co-pilot, Flight Lieutenant Steve Todd, 28, originally from Darlington, died instantly and wreckage peppered the outskirts of the village.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, which happened during a routine training exercise, the two were hailed as heroes by villagers for avoiding the village itself before hitting the ground.

And the following year a plaque and a bench dedicated to both men were unveiled in the village as a permanent memorial.

On Sunday, almost ten years to the day since the disaster, villagers, RAF personnel and cadets took part in a special memorial service at St Michael’s Parish Church.

Among those taking part was also local van driver Colin Murray who had a miraculous escape when debris from the stricken jet smashed into the roof of his van.

Also there was parish council chairman Jean Jackson, who still vividly remembers the crash, which happened as she was driving into the village at lunchtime on October 22, 1999.

"The spotlight was very much on Shap and for some time afterwards but all we, the villagers, were concerned with was the fact that two men had lost their lives," she said.

"I remember meeting the mother and father of one of the men and they were fiercely proud of him."

Following the service a parade of uniformed cadets matched to the crash site itself where prayers were said.

The funeral of Flt Lt Todd, who lived at an RAF house in Leeming with his wife Hannah, was held two weeks after the smash, at the church where he had been christened, Holy Trinity in Darlington.

At the RAF College at Cranwell, Lincolnshire, he had won the sword of merit as the cadet with the most outstanding officer potential.

A fast jet pilot since 1994, he had been based at Leeming for 15 months but as about to move to Lossiemouth in Scotland to fly Jaguars.

Sixteen months after the tragedy an air accident investigation ruled out mechanical failure or weather conditions and concluded the pilots may have been distracted by another aircraft in an unusual position.