But the town sees its population swell every June as it trades on its name and its association with Vulcan, the home planet of Mr Spock in Star Trek.

Fans in costume, or wearing Spock’s signature pointy ears, come from around the world for Vulcan’s annual three-day Star Trek convention: the “VulCON Spock Days Galaxyfest”.

Hard-core enthusiasts, or Trekkies, admire the town and its replica of the USS Enterprise. Vulcan even has a tourism centre designed to look like a spacecraft coming in to land.