RAF explains reason for Chinook army helicopter over Beeston on Thursday

An army helicopter heading across the skies of Beeston in Nottinghamshire was on a training route, the RAF has confirmed. Pictures sent in to Nottinghamshire Live by a reader show a huge Boeing CH-47 Chinook hovering over the county at around 12.50pm on Thursday, June 20.

Amateur photographer Adrian Healey snapped the shot from three and a half miles away in Long Eaton when he spotted the chopper in the air. He calculated its altitude at 3850 feet, its speed as 135 knots and its direction of travel as north.

The Ministry of Defence said it often gets queries on the presence of lesser-sighted twin-rotor helicopters and other army vehicles in the air or on the ground. But if the helicopter is actually being used operationally, the MoD will not explain why for security purposes.

In this case, however, an RAF spokesperson explained that the Chinook was undertaking a routine training sortie from its base at RAF Odiham in Hampshire - 150 miles away. RAF Odiham, which is around 50 miles southwest of London, is a "frontline support helicopter base" and the home of the UK Chinook Force.

More than 60 Chinooks are thought to be stowed at Odiham. The Royal Air Force says that the heli "plays a vital role in the UK's response to emergencies".

It can carry up to 55 troops and around 10,000kg of weight. The Chinooks, while a rare sight, can be spotted on occasion in British skies when they are out to complete training exercises and tests.