Military helicopters spotted flying in the skies above Grantham
Two military helicopters have been spotted flying in the skies over Grantham and the surrounding villages this week.
The pair were spotted above the Poplar Farm development, off Barrowby Road, on Wednesday, prompting several readers to get in touch.
One resident in Gonerby Hill Foot said: "I could see two military personnel hanging out the open side door. I have lived here for 23 years and never seen this before."
They were also spotted flying towards Stoke Rochford.
An RAF spokesperson told Grantham Journal that the aircraft were taking part in an 'essential training event'.
The spokesperson added: "RAF Puma helicopters from RAF Benson have recently been operating in the Grantham area completing essential operational training events designed to ensure that our crews continue to be ready for global operations."
Puma helicopter crews use a variety of Helicopter Landing Sites (HLS) and training areas around the whole of the UK for training and vary their routes and training locations to maximise training benefit.
Such training areas enable RAF crews to train in varied environments in preparation for operations across the globe.
The RAF Helicopter force continues to be on high readiness to deploy around the world, in support of operations such as the hurricane relief effort in the Caribbean in 2017 (Op RUMAN) and the ongoing effort to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK (Op RESCRIPT).
Where possible the RAF will notify local communities of training activity that may be taking place in areas that are not used to seeing such activity via social media posts, however, they will not offer full details for security purposes.
It is likely that use of the area by the helicopters will continue; however, they are unable to say how often this is likely to be used as it depends on numerous factors.
