A spectacular fireball was spotted streaking across the Whitby sky on Monday night.

A local resident saw the object just before 11pm as it moved across the sky before disappearing above the sea.

Alison Heffernan of Holly Tree Court, spotted something in the sky when she was watching television.

She said: "Me and my partner have been decorating so we didn't have any curtains up. We were watching TV and saw something bright going across the sky. It was about the size of a 10p piece and was very bright, it seemed to break up then disappear over the sea."

Mark Dawson of Whitby and District Astronomical Society said it sounded like a "fireball" which are a relatively common occurrence.

"From what she has described it sounds like a fireball which appear very bright in the sky," he said.

"They occur slightly randomly so you can't predict when they appear."