A ROYAL Artillery parachutist was left with a broken leg after a dramatic fall from the sky at Ilkley Carnival on Monday afternoon.

Gunner Pete Law was the last of six soldiers to touch down on land in the main arena after a spectacular parachuting display and a 7,000ft jump which wowed the crowd.

Carnival-goers had no idea that the soldier's waving arms, as he lay on the ground, were anything other than a triumphant greeting and they continued cheering. It was several moments before paramedics realised the 25-year-old Scotsman was in need of assistance.

Eventually, volunteers from the St John Ambulance Brigade climbed over barriers to reach him before he was stretchered on to an ambulance and taken to Airedale Hospital.

Carnival committee chairman Andrew Munro witnessed the accident.

He said: "When I watched him he came in hard and he dropped and hit the ground too hard instead of at an angle like the others.

"It was a hard bang and I thought that he must have hurt himself. When he was waving I thought 'I don't think that's a cheery man waving, he needs help'."

A spokesman for the Royal Artillery Parachute Team said the soldier had broken his leg but was making a good recovery.

"It was a straightforward display, he made it into the arena. When he flared he didn't slow down enough on landing. It was a bit of a fast landing but there were no difficulties. It was just an unfortunate accident."

A hospital spokesman described his condition yesterday as 'poorly but stable'