Star Wars: Excitement over Millennium Falcon photo

Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill in a scene from Star Wars.

Star Wars fans' expectations went sky high after a photograph of the Millennium Falcon and an X-wing fighter was taken from the air and published online.

The picture, showing the spacecraft on set at Greenham Common near Newbury in Berkshire, was taken from a flight school plane flying over the area.

It was published on Twitter by Airbourne Aviation Ltd who said: "Come and book a trail #flight with us and fly over the #StarWarsEpisodeVII set. Your never know what you might see.!!"

The former airfield was famous in the 1980s for the women's peace camp that sprang up around it in protest at the stationing of nuclear weapons on the site.

One fan, Tom Bexx said: "Newbury has become cool THE millennium falcon is here", with another, JasonJ, writing: "It's not easy to try & hide the Millennium Falcon! Beautiful set".

Star Wars: Episode VII, which is due to be released in cinemas next December, reunites many of the cast of the original films including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, said the old guard were there to support the new members of the cast recruited by director JJ Abrams.

He said: "It was certainly unexpected. I already had a beginning, middle and end. I never thought we'd come back. To go on to those sets that evoked so many memories, it is just astonishing.

"It just seems like an unexpected gift."

The cast and crew have also done some filming at the remote Irish island of Skellig Michael and at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

- PAA