It seems that Shirley Bassey had a bit of a traumatic ride home after her Glastonbury set this weekend, not because she got stuck in the queue of cars trying to get our of water logged fields, but because her helicopter experienced mechanical problems necessitating an emergency landing in a Surrey school field. The emergency landing was all the more hairy because the weather conditions were so bad that the pilot couldn't really see what he was doing.
Said pilot is quoted in various media thus: "I was losing power and the mist was so thick I couldn't see where I was going. We have had an almighty escape". Witnesses of the emergency landing, meanwhile, have reported that a clearly distressed Bassey emerged from the helicopter post emergency landing, but that the singer quickly regained her composure and then spoke to locals who had come to see what was going on, apparently saying: "We are so sorry to have bothered you. May I please use someone's toilet? And a cup of tea would go down a treat". Don't know whether that's true, but I like to think it is.
The Mirror quoted one eyewitness, Rosella Tew, as saying: "My husband Thomas and I watched in horror as the helicopter touched the tops of the trees in our garden. It was clear the pilot struggling to control the machine. Thankfully it made a very bumpy landing. You could tell Dame Shirley had been through a terrible ordeal but she maintained her dignity".