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People have been left in a spin after the sails on a historic eight-sail windmill started turning the wrong way.

Lincolnshire Police has shut roads close to Heckington Windmill, near Sleaford, as a precaution over fears "the sails may come off".

Efforts to stop the sails have been hampered by high winds in the county on Thursday.

Engineers need to wait for the wind speed to drop to allow them to apply a brake to the sails.

There have been no reports of any injures or of damage to the windmill - which is the only one of its kind in the UK.

However, a police spokesman said: "There is a concern that the sails may come off."

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Charles Pinchbeck, chairman of the Heckington Windmill Trust, said: "During normal milling operations, the mill started turning in reverse.

"The design of the mill means we are waiting for the wind to drop before it can be stopped."

The likely cause was a sudden change in the wind direction, according to Mr Pinchbeck.

This meant the fantail on the rear of the mill - which fine tunes the direction of the sails in relation to the wind - failed.

Roads affected by closures are Hale Road and Station Road near Miller's Way.

Heckington Windmill

• The mill was originally built in 1830 by Edward Ingledew as a five-sailed mill.
• Following a severe thunderstorm, the mill was repaired in 1892 using eight sails from a windmill in Boston.
• It ceased work in 1946 and deteriorated until it was purchased by Kesteven County Council in 1953.
• The mill is now owned by Lincolnshire County Council, but is operated and run on a voluntary basis by Heckington Windmill Trust.