A CHINESE spy satellite which passes over the UK each day could plummet to earth with the speed of a bullet as early as Sunday, British scientists said yesterday.

German scientists at the European Space Agency had predicted the out-of-control satellite would crash at 4am next Tuesday.

However, Dr Richard Crowther, of the Defence Research Agency at Farnborough, said it could be 36 hours either way - and there was a 500-1 chance it would crash on the British Isles.

The satellite, called FSW-1, travels over Britain for five minutes each day as it circles the earth 16 times a day in ever-decreasing circles.

Dr Crowther said: ``It will be the size of a small van and be travelling like a bullet at 300 metres per second. It will probably leave a 20-metre crater.

``We will not know exactly where it will land until about two hours before. It could also land in the southern hemisphere in water or in the land masses of the north.''

The Home Office has asked local authorities to be prepared for a possible disaster but betting specialists believe the odds are it will not land here.

Mr Graham Sharpe of William Hill said: ``It is the same odds as the Loch Ness Monster being found.''

The satellite, which went out of control two years ago, is designed not to break up on entering the earth's atmosphere.