THE Princess Royal was involved in mid-air drama over Morecambe Bay when her plane came within nine seconds of colliding with a fighter jet.

Princess Anne was flying over the Bay on her way to engagements in Aberdeen on Thursday when her Royal Squadron plane was involved in the near miss with a Eurofighter Typhoon jet.

The Ministry of Defence says the planes did not collide but infringed 'buffer zones'at around 10am.

The Citizen understands the RAF HS125 on which Princess Anne was travelling was flying at a level height on a cleared flight path when the RAF Eurofighter Typhoon, flying under military control, came within 3.3 miles of it.

A warning system sounded and the National Air Traffic Services' Manchester area controller advised the HS125 to descend.

The 3.3-mile gap between the planes translates to around nine seconds given the speed of the jets.

Any plane carrying a member of the Royal family normally has a five-mile buffer zone around it.

The Royal Squadron carries members of the Royal Family and senior politicians, including the Prime Minister, to official engagements.

It is operated by the RAF and succeeded the Queen's Flight.

The RAF is currently introducing Eurofighter Typhoon planes, built by BAE Systems.