A HOT-AIR balloon skimmed roof tops before dramatically touching down in Wey Meadow Close, Wrecclesham, last Thursday.

Stunned eyewitnesses said the balloon, owned by The Packhouse antiques centre in Runfold, skilfully avoided telephone lines, trees and buildings after struggling for altitude over the town at around 4pm.

Sightings were reported on Shortheath Road, Thurbans Road and over the Co-op in Wrecclesham Hill, and one resident of Red Lion Lane even claimed it “took our chimney out” on Facebook - a claim later dismissed by the balloon operators.

No-one was hurt and according to Carl Newman, one of the first people to arrive at the landing site, the balloon’s two occupants joked they had “just dropped off Santa”.

Carl said: “We were driving along Weydon Lane and the kids pointed out there was a balloon that was really low and my partner jokingly said ‘give chase!’.

“We turned down Wrecclesham Hill and I thought ‘hang on, that’s a little bit too close to the houses’, so we turned into Wey Meadow Close and next thing I know it’s literally just missed the houses and landed in the bit before the woodland.

“There were two men in the basket and they were fine. One of the guys even joked they had just dropped off Santa three days ago and were on their way back!

“They seemed to be quite smily and chirpy. They weren’t sheepish at all, and they didn’t seem down-hearted or anything. It was almost like it was a regular occurrence.”

Carl helped the two men take the balloon off the trees and roll it up, and 10 minutes later a support vehicle arrived to take the balloon and basket away.

A spokesman for The Packhouse said: “We’ve looked into things our end and chatted to Howard, who was the pilot at the time. I can confirm the balloon didn’t hit any houses, trees or chimneys as they were looking to land.

“From our point of view, it was just a regular flight without incident. We do have the GPS of the flight path for any further clarification. We would, however, like to apologise to any local residents who were upset or distressed with the events.”

It is not the first time The Packhouse’s balloon has made headlines in The Herald, however, having touched down in the middle of a busy residential street in Haslemere in August 2014.

On that occasion the balloon’s pilot, Alison Hougham, who owns the antiques centre, said it was the safest thing to do after the wind dropped suddenly.