An RAF Harrier jump jet crashed in an Oxfordshire field last night, narrowly missing a pub, a garage, houses and a car being driven by a policeman.

The burning wreckage landed on a road, yet no one was killed or badly hurt.

The amazing escape happened after the GR9 fighter jet, travelling to RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, from RAF Cottesmore, in Lincoln, crashed and exploded in fields at Upper Weaveley Farm close to the village of Tackley near Kidlington.

The pilot safely ejected from the jet and landed in fields uninjured - yards from the wreckage.

The plane was not carrying any live munitions.

The off-duty policeman was driving along the A4260 when the drama happened at around 5pm.

Eyewitnesses enjoying an early evening drink in the sunshine at the Sturdy's Castle pub, just 150 yards from the crash site, recalled hearing a low-flying jet scream overhead before its engines cut out, crashed and exploded in a fireball.

The single-seater Harrier is believed to have crashed, hit a wall and careered over a ditch on to the road, with flying debris hitting the car or forcing it to spin and crash.

The driver staggered from the vehicle, shocked and cut by shards of glass, and sought treatment at the pub. He was comforted by startled delegates attending a sales conference at the pub who left their seminar after hearing the noise outside. But last night the unnamed pilot was praised for steering the jet away from the pub, neighbouring garage and nearby houses.

Caroline Young, who owns the field in which the jet crashed, said: "I heard a plane screaming and thought 'that's way too low'.

"I ran out of the house, grabbed the phone and tried to call the emergency services because I had heard a big bang.

"The pilot was drifting down as I ran from the house.

"There was a lot of black smoke everywhere and a lot of explosions.

"I could see the parachute, but what I didn't realise was that he was lying on the ground conscious - at which point a helicopter arrived.

"There was virtually nothing left of the plane, but the remains of the ejector seat are in my field."

The vertical take-off Harrier jump jet, which achieved worldwide fame for its combat roles in the Falklands War and Balkans conflict, was set to take part in a static display at this weekend's Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford.

An MoD spokesman said last night it was not performing any aerobatic manoeuvres or practising for the weekend's show when it got into difficulty.

The RAF has launched an investigation.

The crash caused gridlock on minor roads around the crash area as police cordoned off a three-mile exclusion zone.

Scores of fire, police and ambulance crews arrived at the scene and were amazed that no one was seriously hurt. Police immediately closed the A4260 in both directions and evacuated nearby houses.

The pilot, who landed in fields behind the house of Debra Mullins at Thresher's Barn, was treated by Oxfordshire ambulance crews, who were first on the scene.

Mrs Mullins said: "We do get low-flying aircraft, but there was something not quite right. I looked through the window then heard explosions and saw flames and black smoke - I knew it was the aircraft.

"We ran out of the house."

Late last night Oxfordshire Highways workers arrived at the scene to repair the badly-damaged road. The road is likely to remain closed today.

AS WE SAW IT EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS

SAM WHELAN, from Sandhurst, was at a sales conference at the Sturdy's Castle pub: "We were all inside when we heard a noise like the Red Arrows were moving across.

"We ran outside and saw a pilot coming down in a parachute. Then I saw an explosion - it was just a huge mushroom of black smoke. The plane had come down on the road.

"I rushed down there to see if I could do anything. The plane was in the road burning and there were still explosions as we were running down.

"Then I saw the guy walking away from his car. It was in the ditch by the hedge and all the front of the car was smashed in. He was covered in glass in his back and had cuts down his arms and across his chest - he was splattered with blood.

"I brought him back into the conference room and settled him down, gave him a cup of tea and then his wife turned up to meet him. He was very shocked by it all.

"It was just amazing that everyone has walked away from it. If the plane had hit us, it doesn't bear thinking about. It only crashed a few hundred yards away."

GRAHAM BILLINGE, from the New Forest, was also at the conference: "The noise was something dreadful. We knew something must be wrong - it was deafening.

"We rushed out and saw the pilot on the end of a parachute coming down just past the trees at the side of the pub.

"Then there was a billow of thick, black smoke. The plane had caught fire and there were lots of explosions. I doubt it's recognisable as a plane anymore.

"I personally think that the pilot should be congratulated, because he left it right to the last moment before he bailed out.

"If he had come down before, the plane would have hit us all."

VANESSA PORSCH is landlady of the Sturdy's Castle pub: "A couple of customers saw the pilot eject and then heard a crash, and that was it really. The whole place is now crawling with police and ambulances."

She said some of the witnesses had been "badly shaken" by what happened, and she had come in to support them.

She said: "I came in to make sure everyone was okay.

"It almost landed on somebody. There was a man, an off-duty policeman I think, and it just went over his car, but no one was seriously hurt or anything as far as I know.

"It's a miracle really. It could have been absolutely horrendous."

PAUL DUNN, 46, works at the Varsity Chrysler and Jeep dealership at Shipton-on-Cherwell: "I was in the office and a plane came over, less than 200ft above our garage.

"It was approaching Kidlington airport and trying to land. And whether the pilot was going too fast to land, or thought the runway was not long enough, he decided to abort the landing.

"He made a bank to the right, then headed north towards Banbury. The pilot ejected and landed in a field next to the one where the plane crashed."

He said a fire engine from the airport was at the scene within minutes with other emergency services arriving shortly afterwards.

MARGARET BROOME, of Tackley, said: "We often see military planes flying over, practising, especially around the time of air shows, so we just assumed that was what was happening. I just thought it was preparing for the RAF Fairford air tattoo this weekend.

"The plane was very low. There was then a huge crash