TWO workers couldn’t believe their eyes when they spotted a likeness of Mary holding baby Jesus in an aerial photo of a Lancashire construction site.

Religious leaders said the image, found on Google Maps, was ‘remarkable’.

Contractors Steve Hirst and Carl Richards were taking a look at the half-acre sand and mud site in Samlesbury on their computer as they prepared for a project.

But they were stunned into silence after noticing part of the land appeared to show a woman wearing a headscarf and holding something.

Mr Richards said last night: “It is an amazing image of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms.”

The picture is the Google Maps satellite image for the area, but it is believed to have been taken several years ago.

At present the £10million Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve is being built next to the site.

Christopher Armstrong, the dean of Blackburn Cathedral, said: “The pictures are remarkable in the shape that they suggest but are several years old now and the ground cover has grown significantly so I don’t think we can attach any weight to this image at all.”

Reverend Sue Williams, of St Leonards CofE Church in Samlesbury, recalled a visit to an ancient monastery in Greece when she saw an image of Jesus in the plaster.

She said: “It is an anomaly and with these type of things we usually see what we want to see and I won’t be encouraging people to make pilgrimages to Brockholes.

“It is a lovely image but it is based on a religious and cultural context because people of other faiths may see something totally different.”

Dr Peter McCue, of the British Psychological Society, said: “If someone is interested in or immersed in a belief when they see something that could resemble a religious symbol or figure they are much more likely to see it as such than someone else.”

Mr Hirst and Mr Richards work for separate contractors on behalf of the Highways Agency, at the site near the M6 motorway.

Mr Richards, 42, from Bolton, who works as a route steward for A1 Plus managing a section of the motorway, said: “We were looking at the layout of the area for some work we are doing and we were zooming in and it caught our eye.

“We were stunned into silence and Steve joked he had seen the light.”

Click on the link below to see the image on Google Maps.