Retired Derek Young (73), of Crown Drive, saw the flashing lights, which he describes as “large circles”, across the sky towards the east of the town at around 8pm on Sunday.

Mr Young said he believes that people do see “funny things” in the sky like UFOs, but he thinks what he saw could have been a freak weather incident.

Mystified Mr Young said: “The lights were travelling north east and came back again. They had a yellow glow to them and resembled the Olympic rings. I havent got a clue what it was and it was most bizarre. The only suggestion I have is that it could be moonlight reflecting off the clouds.

“It was going on for quite a long while. I’m sure there must be others who saw it.”

This is not the first time mystery lights have intrigued residents.

A series of orange lights were seen by residents in the Pennygate area in November last year - but they turned out to be Chinese lanterns.