INVESTIGATIONS were continuing today into a light aircraft crash in which four people died.

The Piper Cherokee plane crashed into a field and exploded in flames less than a minute after take-off from an airport at Sandown, Isle of Wight.

It had stopped on the Island en route from Staffordshire to an airfield in Brittany, France.

All four people who died were from Staffordshire.

It is thought the plane had climbed to about 100ft before plunging to the ground.

About 30 firefighters tackled the fierce blaze, which raged for two and a half hours.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: "The circumstances surrounding the cause of the crash are still to be investigated."

The spokesman added that police were liaising with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) which would carry out an inquiry into the crash, which happened at about midday yesterday(SUN).

A spokesman for the Isle of Wight Airport at Sandown confirmed that there had been four people on board the plane and none had survived.

He said: "This is a tragic accident. It was an accident soon after take-off and the AAIB will be beginning their investigation into how it happened."

The spokesman said that the aircraft had arrived yesterday morning and had come to the airport previously but it was not a regular visitor.

He added that the airport was continuing to operate normally following the accident.