A Suffolk police helicopter and a microlight narrowly avoided a mid-air collision in Suffolk, a report has revealed.

The police pilot reported there was a “high” risk of collision with the aircraft near Beccles on the afternoon of September 7, 2014.

The pilot told investigators he took “avoiding action” after a “late sighting” of a white and red flex-wing microlight which was less than 100 metres (328 feet) away.

The incident was investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority’s UK Airprox Board, which examines near misses in airspace.

The board concluded that “safety margins had been much reduced below normal”.

The report said the pilot of the microlight – a GT450 – was enjoying an afternoon flight from his farm strip before the incident took place.

He told the board he was travelling at about 1,300ft (396m) when he saw the helicopter about 200ft (61m) below him at 2.11pm.

The report said: “He saw a police helicopter in the right 1 o’clock position at a range of 300 yards, about 200 feet below and heading directly towards him.

“He assessed that the helicopter would pass about 150ft down his right side, applied full power and climbed to the left in order to avoid any potential rotor turbulence.

“The pilot stated that at no time did he consider himself to be in imminent danger as he had time to react and could clearly see the other aircraft, albeit in close proximity.

“The pilot noted that he was surprised he had not heard any calls from the police helicopter pilot on any of the frequencies he had monitored en-route, and that the police helicopter pilot was not in receipt of a Traffic Service from Norwich on a busy Sunday afternoon.”

He assessed the risk of collision as ‘medium to high’.

On his return to his base at Wattisham Airfield, the helicopter pilot reported the incident.

The board said it was “unfortunate” the two pilots were not monitoring the same radio frequency at the same time.

The report said: “The board felt that the GT450 pilot saw the helicopter just before the EC135 (police helicopter) pilot saw the microlight.” It added: “The board was sufficiently concerned by the reported separation at CPA (closest point of approach) to agree that, although avoiding action had been taken, safety margins had been much reduced below normal.”