A MILITARY fighter jet dropped a dummy bomb on a farmland by mistake, the US Air Force said today.The F-15E Strike Eagle released a 25lb training munition over farmland near Howden and Market Weighton in East Yorkshire.

A MILITARY fighter jet dropped a dummy bomb on a farmland by mistake, the US Air Force said today.

The F-15E Strike Eagle released a 25lb training munition over farmland near Howden and Market Weighton in East Yorkshire.

The jet, based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, was carrying out a training mission at the time of the incident last Thursday. An investigation was under way.

First Lieutenant Augustine O Ekpoudom, a RAF Lakenheath spokesman, said: "At approximately 5.15pm January 8, a 25lb BDU-33 training munition from an F-15E Strike Eagle landed in a sparsely populated area near Howden and Market Weighton in Northern England.

"There were no injuries, limited property damage, and the inert munition was recovered.

"The F-15E Strike Eagle was conducting a routine training mission at the time of the incident.

"Trained and experienced base personnel including Ministry of Defence, and local constabulary authorities responded to the scene and an investigation team is determining the cause the incident."

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said officers had helped in the search for the munition.

end First Lieut Ekpoudom said he could not give the exact location of the incident but confirmed the dummy bomb crashed through an area of concrete close to industrial buildings.

He said it came to rest just below the surface leaving a hole 18 inches in diameter.

Asked whether the "bomb' had been released by accident or had missed a target he said this was a matter for the ongoing investigation.

He confirmed search teams had recovered the device.