A DRIVER who witnessed a military drone crash land just outside Aberporth has spoken of her shock as it narrowly avoided coming down on another car.

The woman was travelling home from work last Wednesday evening at around 5pm when the Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone crashed.

She said: “Turning off at the Blaenannerch roundabout I suddenly saw to my right what I thought was a light aircraft.

“I immediately thought omg there’s an aeroplane – omg he’s low – omg he ‘s getting lower – omg whoosh, it whammed into the trees all in about three seconds – narrowly missing the roof of the red car in front of me.

“Being very arthritic I would have been a liability if I had got out but the red car stopped as did the blue Renault van behind me so I figured that between them someone would have had a phone – not realising at this point that there was no one to rescue.

“To calmly state that it “came down” on a narrow lane suggests that it landed serenely, quietly and safely – far from the truth.

“It was an out of control crash-landing and the operators can thank their lucky stars that the red car driver did not slow down – I probably had a better view of their close shave than the occupants did.

“A good use of another £6 million – I don’t think so.”

The drone had taken off from West Wales Airport, which is used by both civil and military traffic and the Ministry of Defence use it to test their Watchkeeper drone.

An MOD spokesman said: “We are aware of an incident involving a Watchkeeper aircraft which did not result in any injuries. The aircraft has been secured and there is no risk to the public. An investigation is under way.

“Safety is of paramount importance and, although we have not grounded the fleet, we have paused flying while initial investigations are carried out.”