A PARACHUTIST is in hospital with a serious leg injury after he veered off course and landed on a tree this morning.

The 18-year-old, from North Yorkshire is thought to have taken off from Shotton Airfield, in County Durham, before landing in a tree beside the A19 in Peterlee.

Police and paramedics were called to the scene, by the B1320 interchange, just before 11am and the teenager was taken to the University Hospital of North Tees.

His injuries are not thought to be life threatening.