A fighter jet from a US air base in Suffolk left a bill of almost £29million ($44m) when it crashed, according to documents seen by the BBC.

The F-15D from RAF Lakenheath fell from the sky in October while on a training exercise. The pilot ejected safely but the plane crashed in a field near Spalding in Lincolnshire.

Documents released by the US Department of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act do not reveal what caused the crash.

The jet had been on a training exercise with another F-15D when it got into difficulty and went into a flat spin at 15,000ft (4,600m) above sea level at about 3.30pm on October 8.

The pilot, who had the rank of captain, ejected at about 6,000ft (1,830m) above sea level.

The aircraft was on fire in a field a few hundred yards from the village school and housing after it crashed.

British Ministry of Defence officials from RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire were in charge of cleaning the field at an estimated cost of £393,235 ($605,405).

The environmental clean-up costs breakdown: excavation/removal of contaminated soil: £52,296 ($80,513); transfer of contaminated soil to landfill: £284,921 ($438,651); reinstatement of topsoil: £55,373 ($85,250); labour and equipment costs: £644 ($991).

The USAF will pay for 75% of the clean-up, with the remaining 25% paid by the British Ministry of Defence.

A USAF spokesman at RAF Lakenheath said the accident investigation board had yet to finish its study into the cause of the crash.