A FLYING saucer which was expected to land in Accrington has mysteriously disappeared from plans to boost tourism.

The Coppice, in Peel Park, was originally named as one of the six sites to receive a Panopticon sculpture as part of a £1million scheme to attract visitors to East Lancashire.

The organisers, Mid-Pennine Arts, ran a competition for three of the sites: the Coppice in Accrington, Corporation Park in Blackburn and Wycollar Park in Pendle.

The winners of the competition, run in conjunction with the Royal Institute of British Architects, were announced in July. But in a report about the scheme to Hyndburn Council the borough is now missing from the list of sites.

A spokeswoman for Mid-Pennine Arts would not give the reasons but said the final site for the winning UFO design by artist John Kennedy, of Tockholes, had yet to be confirmed, even though it had originally announced it was going to the Coppice .

The spokeswoman did not give the reason why the stance had changed but she said: "No decision has been made yet and general negotiations are taking place with a number of sites."

Leader of Hyndburn Council Coun Peter Britcliffe said he had asked the organisers to come up with another design because he thought the UFO was unsuitable for Hyndburn and, as far as he knew, this is what they were doing.

Another spokeswoman for the Panopticons scheme said that although no final decision had been made she expected Hyndburn to still get a sculpture, as the competition was originally launched with the idea of the six districts receiving a design.

Other locations which will get sculptures include Crown Point in Burnley, Kemple End, Ribble Valley, and Top o' the Slate, above Rawtenstall. A spokeswoman for Panopticons, a body handling the competition, said: "The competition was originally launched on the premise that there would be one sculpture in every district.

"And as far as I am aware that is still the case although nothing has been finalised as yet."

Coun Tim O'Kane, of Clayton-le-Moors ward, said: "I think it was very short-sighted and they haven't grasped all the commercial possibilities of it.

"Why should any one person have the right to veto what is a winning entry and a work of art."

Denis Plunkett, of the British Flying Saucer Association, said: "I think it would have been a good idea, but I suppose I would say that."