WHEN you look up into the skies of East Lancashire the last thing you might expect to see is a Russian spy plane.

But that is just what photographer Steve Bradley did while working in his garden in Colne.

His photograph of an Antonov An-30 specialist surveillance craft is now set to spark questions in Parliament.

Very few people will be aware that the Russians, along with 30 odd other countries, signed up to an open skies treaty 13 years ago.

The treaty means unarmed aerial surveillance flights are allowed in the airspace of all the signed up countries.

In this case British personnel were also on board the flight.

The treaty was introduced to promote openness and transparency, and is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants a direct role in gathering information about military forces – a very laudable reason.

However, with growing tensions between Russia and Britain, which last week saw a Russian plane escorted away from UK airspace by RAF fighter jets, the timing of the spy plane’s flight has been questioned.

The debate in Parliament on the issue will no doubt be very interesting.