Mystery solved! The strange lights spotted in the north Essex skies at the weekend were sky lanterns released at a wedding, it was confirmed today.

Stapleford Abbotts firm SkyLanterns.com said it was hired by a bride and groom to launch the miniature hot air balloons at a reception held at Crabbs Barn in Kelvedon.

The venue is a stone's throw from the A12, where dozens of motorists stopped to gaze heavenwards after spotting them hovering above the road on Sunday night.

Company boss Grant Barry said the floating illuminations, a feature of celebrations for centuries in China, were increasingly in demand for weddings and parties in the UK.

Some readers who contacted the Gazette about the lanterns raised fears they could be a fire risk, especially if they landed on thatched roofs.

But Mr Barry said "a little common sense" was enough to prevent accidents with the devices, which are created by placing lighted candles inside fire-resistant plastic bags.

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    Gazette reader Stan Redman contacted us via our i-witness section with these pictures of the mysterious lights over the A12.

He wrote: "I witnessed the orange balls over a 25-minute period starting at 9:05pm on Sunday evening.

"There were several hundred (maybe more) over this period.

"The balls were traveling south to north before accumulating at a point in the sky then turning east and ascending rapidly.

"They appeared to be travelling slowly, however, two aircraft appeared to be circling the phenomenon and this allowed me to judge the speed and altitude a bit better.

"They were travelling faster than the aircraft and at a much higher altitude.

"I captured several photos of the lights with a digital camera. The pictures suffer from camera shake so are not perfect.

"On one picture you can see my hedge and lamppost which gives some perspective and the objects starting their ascent one at a time.

"On the second picture I captured what appeared to be a bolt of lightning."