Two Oxfordshire-based RAF officers were killed when a missile brought down their helicopter in Iraq last year, an official investigation has concluded.

Flt Lt Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, 32, and Wg Cmdr John Coxen, 46, were killed alongside three other servicemen when their Westland Lynx helicopter crashed into a house near Basra last May.

Flt Lt Mulvihill was the first British servicewoman to be killed in Iraq, while Wg Cmdr Coxen, originally from Liverpool, was at the time the most senior British officer to be killed in the campaign. He had served 23 years.

Both were based at RAF Benson, near Wallingford.

The inquiry's findings were read to MPs as a statement from Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram.

He said: "The key conclusion of the Board of Inquiry is that the Lynx was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, using a man-portable air defence system, fired from the ground."

The incident triggered serious fighting between British troops and locals armed with guns, stones and bombs.

Seven recommendations have been made to help the forces learn from the attack, which cannot be revealed to protect the security of British troops.

Mr Ingram said his thoughts were with the families and friends of the officers, whose next-of-kin had been told.

The other servicemen who died were Lt Cmdr Darren Chapman, 40, Capt David Dobson, 27, and Marine Paul Collins, 21, all from the Joint Helicopter Command in Somerset. Inquests will now be held into the deaths at Oxford Coroner's Court.