A metal item fell out of the sky and narrowly missed hitting young Matthew Turner as he played in the garden of his Southampton home.

His mother Elaine believes the washer, that was slightly larger than a 50p and covered in grease, came from an aeroplane.

It is the only explanation that she can give for the flying object landing in the garden at the family home in Spring Lane, Colden Common, which falls under Southampton Airport's flightpath.

Elaine, a telephonist, said: "My son was playing outside and came running in all sort of excited and a little bit concerned.

"He told me that I would never guess what had happened but this thing just came down really fast from the sky.

"When I heard what had happened and saw the washer I thought it was very dangerous because it had come down so fast. "It could have really hurt him."

Matthew, aged eight, who attends Otterbourne CE Primary School, said: "I was playing outside and took a few steps forward when it just sort of fell out of the sky."

It is the second time in as many weeks that the Daily Echo has reported on objects apparently falling from aircraft.

Greg Smith of Chandler's Ford was left with a £1,500 repair bill after a large metal washer fell through his conservatory roof, piercing two layers of tough reinforced plastic.

The 61-year-old of Claudius Gardens immediately contacted the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is now investigating the matter.

A spokesman for the CAA said that the aviation regulator would also investigate this latest incident and has requested that the washer be sent to its London headquarters for analysis. The spokesman said: "We do get occasional reports from people of objects they think have fallen from aeroplanes.

"However, this very rarely turns out to be the case.

"Every year there are more than two million flights throughout the UK's airspace and we get about 30 to 40 reports of falling objects.

"Of those very few turn out to be items from aeroplanes.

"However, it is difficult to give an exact number because it is always difficult to confirm whether an object is from an aeroplane."