UFO hotspot in Shropshire

Shrewsbury was the top town in the country last year for UFO sightings according to official figures released by the Ministry of Defence.

According to the data, which was released following a Freedom of Information Act request, the county town notched up three sightings in 2007 making it the UK hotspot ahead of cities such as Cardiff and Liverpool.

Sightings included a convoy of white lights moving along a river bank at Montford Bridge on July 7 last year and another encounter of four orange lights seen crossing the town's skyline followed by another three moving at a fast pace.

The ministry opened its very own "X-Files" last year which includes an archive of sightings dating back to 1997. And it reveals that the number of UFO sightings across the UK has shot up from 97 in 2006 to a total of 135 last year.

Despite West Kilbride in Scotland being the country's number one location for sightings - with a total of 18 reported over the decade - it failed to record as many as Shrewsbury in 2007.On one occasion in Shrewsbury on November 12, 2007, at 9.50pm a person reported seeing a series of lights in the shape of an inner circle and an outer circle.

They said they saw them moving clockwise, then anti-clockwise, through the sky and back again.

UFO expert Phil Hoyle, head of the Shrewsbury-based UFO Investigation and Research Unit, said he was not surprised by the figures.

He claimed that the actual number of sightings in the town was much higher.

He said he had received calls from separate members of the public who saw large triangular shaped craft in the sky above Haughmond Hill, near Shrewsbury, on two occasions last year.

Mr Hoyle, of Sutton Farm, said anyone who wanted to report any UFO activity could do so by calling him on (01743) 245574.