YOU may have spotted a huge military plane in the sky above Haltonthis afternoon, Tuesday.

An Airbus A400M Atlas was visible flying at low altitude over the borough and surrounding areas at around 12.20pm.

The Royal Air Force aircraft, which uses four propeller engines, took off from RAF Brize Norton near Oxford at around 10.30am before flying south to Cornwall, according to FlightRadar24.

At around 11.40am, it began to fly north over Wales towards north west England.

By around 12.15pm it had reached Wirral, crossing the River Mersey over southern St Helens and reaching Warrington around 12.20pm.

The plane flew at around 2,000ft above the town, before descending over Runcorn and flying over Liverpool John Lennon Airport at 200ft.

It then followed the route of the Mersey and crossed the Irish Sea to circle the sky above Belfast in Northern Ireland.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the plane flew over the area as part of a training exercise.

They said: "A Royal Air Force Atlas A400M aircraft from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire was completing routine training around the Liverpool area.

“The RAF uses a variety of locations around the UK for training.

“They provide complex airspace and differing challenges for our pilots to ensure we remain ready and able to deploy on global operations.”