A hot air balloon carrying 16 passengers landed in the grounds of a school on Monday afternoon. The Virgin Balloon that had taken off from Shuttleworth Park in Bedfordshire, landed without incident on a football pitch in the grounds of Knights Templar Sch

A hot air balloon carrying 16 passengers landed in the grounds of a school on Monday afternoon.

The Virgin Balloon that had taken off from Shuttleworth Park in Bedfordshire, landed without incident on a football pitch in the grounds of Knights Templar School, Baldock.

A spokesman for Virgin Balloons said: "One of our balloons landed safely in a large grass sports field by a school and leisure centre at Baldock at around 5.30pm on Monday evening. The16 passengers enjoyed a pleasant flight, a gentle landing and a traditional Champagne toast afterwards.

"Balloons cannot be steered in the traditional sense, so they travel in the direction of the wind and do not land in designated places like planes. Commercial balloon pilots, who have to be highly-experienced, land in wide open spaces where it is safe to do so and it is not unusual to land in large, empty playing fields. This was a standard and legal landing.