THE investigation into the cause of the light aircraft crash which killed two men in North Dorset over the August bank holiday weekend is not likely to conclude until at least next year.

Both men, aged in their 60s, were aboard a Tiger Moth biplane which crashed into a field east of Compton Abbas Airfield near Shaftesbury.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the Air Accident Investigations Branch, which is based at Farnborough, Hampshire, told the Daily Echo: "These investigations tend to take between 10 and 12 month. We won't be releasing any information until the investigation concludes sometime in the new year."

Meanwhile, the two victims have still not been officially named by the coroner.

Police, firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene, on August 26, after witnesses spotted the crash before smoke was seen billowing from a crop field.

In the aftermath Chief Inspector Richard Bell, of Dorset Police, confirmed: "Sadly, two men have died in the crash - the passenger, 67 years old and from Shaftesbury, and the pilot, 64 years old and from Blandford.

"Our thoughts are very much with their families at this time."

There was also a military presence at the crash site, which is close to MOD land, when recovery of the wreckage took place.

Farm workers and members of the public rushed to help, but were unable to put out the flames.

One witness said: "I believe a driver who was on the road and saw it go down was the first on the scene and then two men from the farm.

"They had a fire extinguisher but they couldn't put it out. It was completely ablaze."

The AAIB, a branch of the Department for Transport, is responsible for conducting air accidents in the United Kingdom.