RENOWNED physicist Stephen Hawking took a break from searching for alien life to enjoy a family day out in Lyme Regis.

The cosmologist and theoretical physicist was spotted taking in the sites of the coastal town during Lyme Regis Lifeboat Week.

Professor Hawking, whose book The Brief History of Time sold more than 10 million copies, was seen admiring the famous Lyme Regis Cobb, enjoying the sunshine on the beach and even reportedly stopped for lunch at By the Bay restaurant on Marine Parade.

Earlier this week, Professor Hawking was in London to give his support to a new initiative looking for signs of extraterrestrial life.

RNLI volunteer Mark Perkins saw the award-winning physicist enjoying the sites of Lyme.

“We saw him as we came down from the gardens,” said Mark. “We were coming down the steps and we saw a man who looked a lot like Stephen Hawking drive past us with two people with him.

“He is so famous and I couldn’t believe it was him. At the moment he is a proper A-lister so it was brilliant to have actually seen him.”

Lyme Regis resident Adrianne Mullins couldn’t believe her eyes when she spotted the genius on her lunch break.

She said: “I was walking along the seafront and I was absolutely convinced that it was him I saw.

“It seemed too unreal so I came back so that I could have another look. I had a close look at his wheelchair and it was definitely him. It was incredibly really.

“I think he’s the most famous person I have ever seen, and probably who was been to Lyme Regis that I can remember.

“He was sitting on the seafront and I heard that he went into the By the Bay Restaurant for lunch. Hopefully he was enjoying some of the Lifeboat Week events too.”

Charlotte McKinnon spotted the groundbreaking scientist while she was sat on The Cobb with her husband Jeff.

“We were just sat on the Cobb enjoying our chips and he came past us,” she said.

“We thought it couldn’t possibly be him, but it really was.

“This is my first time in Dorset, but I never expected to see someone like Stephen Hawking down here.”

Professor Hawking’s life was the subject of an Oscar-winning film last year, The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne.

Dorset HealthCare’s Wheelchair Service made a unique contribution towards the biopic.

Set decorators for the film found just what they were looking for when the service offered them an exact replica of a wheelchair used by Professor Hawking.