HUNDREDS of star gazers descended on Much Hoole near Preston to see the historic transit of Venus, in the place where it was first viewed.

The transit, which was last seen in 1882, was viewed by hundreds of people during a special viewing event at St Michael's CofE Church, Liverpool Old Road on Tuesday.

Scientists from across the world met at Carr House just outside the village for their own viewing and television and radio programmes were broadcast from the village

The passing of Venus across the sun, first witnessed and recorded in 1639 by mathematician and Carr House resident Jeremiah Horrocks, created a vibrant atmosphere as young and old saw the spectacular event that will not be visible from Britain again until 2247.

Amateur astronomer Bill Ellison, 40, from Lytham St Annes, set up his telescope in the churchyard and let hundreds of visitors view the transit.

"It's a great day, and I love being able to show people this wonderful event," said the BAE aerospace engineer.

Eileen Smith, 67, from Walmer Bridge, who queued three times to view Venus through the telescope, said: "I would not have missed it for anything. It's absolutely fantastic."

The keenest astronomers turned out for the 6.20am start, and were not disappointed as the weather remained almost perfect with the odd cloud overhead until the 12.20pm finish.

"I didn't dare look at the forecast in case we got bad weather, but it's glorious, we couldn't have hoped for better," said church warden David Turner, who organised the event together with others from the church.

In December 1639 Jeremiah Horrocks took accurate readings of the the transit from his bedroom in Carr House.The readings meant the size of the solar system could be calculated.

The University of Central Lancashire also set up telescopes in the churchyard to project the passing on to a piece of card.

Other star gazers met on the school field of St Michael's Primary across from the church, where there was also a live internet link to view the event.