Two RAF helicopters have been spotted flying over Norfolk.

The Chinooks were in the region as part of an exercise at Stanford Training Area (STANTA) near Thetford.

The support helicopters were seen and heard on the evening of June 21.

Members of the public got photos of the aircraft in Norwich, Coltishall and Cromer where they were flying very low over the seafront.

Chinooks are primarily used for trooping, resupply and battlefield casualty evacuation.

An RAF spokesman said: “Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters, from 27 Squadron based at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, were in the Norwich area whilst participating in an exercise supporting ground-based units on pre-deployment and operational training.”

The RAF uses a variety of training areas around the whole of the UK and vary its routes to maximise training benefit.

Recently aircraft have been operating in the Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh areas as well as across Norfolk and East Anglia.

Such training areas enable RAF crews to train in a variety of environments in preparation for operations across the globe