AS Star Wars fans worldwide continue to pack cinemas for the final instalment of the epic, a Pembroke Dock man remembers how it all began.

Richard Rees, aged 64, of 25 Front Street, was one of 30 Marcon Fabrications workers who, in 1978, built the Millennium Falcon for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

The 65-feet steel structure was built at a former Sunderland flying-boat hangar at Pembroke Dockyard.

Richard said: "When it was finished it did look very impressive. It might have meant a lot to some people to work on this project, but to me it was just another job."

Richard recalls the photo shoot in the Pembroke Dock hangar, where camera crews rushed alongside the structure to create the impression of movement.

The project was shrouded in mystery, the film studio insisting that the construction of the giant prop be a closely-guarded secret. But, inevitably, news of the 16 ton spaceship leaked out.

The speed at which the rumours spread throughout the county was no doubt aided by numerous UFO sightings in the area at the time, and the news that this 'saucer' was fitted with hover pads.

To quell local concerns Marcon Fabrications' works director, George Wilson, told the Western Telegraph, in an interview in 1979: "Some people seem to be under the impression that it will be hovering over Pembroke Dock, but it can't get more than an inch-and-a-half off the ground."

Richard Rees has not seen a single Star Wars film, although he did watch the footage of the Falcon's first intergalactic flight. "I watched it and thought we had done a good job," he said.