Ukip candidate Nigel Farage has been injured after an election stunt in a light aircraft went wrong and it crashed.

Mr Farage was in a plane towing a banner bearing the slogan "Vote for your country - Vote Ukip" when it went down at an airfield near Brackley.

There was speculation that the accident, in which Mr Farage suffered head injuries, was caused when the banner became tangled with the plane.

The MEP, who is also standing in the General Election in Buckingham, was taken to the Horton General Hospital Banbury, with non life-threatening injuries following the crash at Hinton-in-the-Hedges airfield, near Brackley.

Chris Adams, Ukip parliamentary candidate for Aylesbury, said: "Nigel was unconscious but he can talk. He's been coming in and out of consciousness and is now being X-rayed."

The plane went down just after 8am, also injuring the pilot, who was airlifted to Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry.

A party spokesman said: "We've had unconfirmed reports that either the banner got snagged up or there were cross-winds and it was an unfamiliar airfield to the pilot, who had to be cut out of the plane."

Mr Farage suffered "minor head injuries" but campaigners had been told to "carry on", he said.

The aircraft was believed to be a 1960s-style biplane which left the Winchester area of Hampshire early on Thursday and flew into Hinton. The accident happened as it was taking off again from Hinton, the spokesman said.

The crash is being investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, supported by Northamptonshire Police.