Star Wars' Mark Hamill ready to defend Newcastle from 'star ship'

It is clear the Empire has designs on a leafy Newcastle suburb

An Imperial Empire star ship "disguised in a cloud" has been spotted above the roof tops of Newcastle.

A sharp-eyed Star Wars fan from the suburb of Gosforth was quick to alert Luke Skywalker when he caught sight of the enemy vessel overhead.

David Hicks tweeted the famous Jedi knight's alter ego, actor Mark Hamill, and received the reassuring response: "Red 5 standing by".

Mr Hicks said he was "a bit shocked, but obviously very pleased".

But is it a cruiser or a destroyer?

He is a big fan of Star Wars, he said.

"Saw it with my dad when I was about six or seven, so it grabbed me at exactly the right age," he said.

"Was genuinely excited when the new films came out."

Mr Hicks tweeted his surprise at seeing "an Imperial Cruiser cunningly disguised in a cloud above Gosforth" on Wednesday evening.

However, the BBC believes the vessel was in fact an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, normally equipped with tractor beam projectors and turbo-lasers.

Readers of Ken Liu's novel Journey to Star Wars will know that legend has it Skywalker's powers are so powerful he can bring down the massive craft using the force alone.

Twitter users have thanked him for his guardianship of Gosforth and invited him to visit.

May the force be with them.