IT is a sight that organisers hope will bring Southampton the all-important "wow" factor - if only for an hour.

A Spitfire was this morning due to take pride of place on a city centre roundabout in a bid to gauge people's reaction to the spectacle.

The Second World War fighter plane, designed and built in Southampton by R J Mitchell, chief designer for the Supermarine Company in Woolston, was due to be transported from the city's Solent Sky Museum to the roundabout outside the De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel at 9.30am.

Southampton City Council's ruling Conservative group hopes eventually to have a full-size replica Spitfire in place on the roundabout.

Councillor John Hannides, the council's Cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: "By doing this today we want to raise the profile of the project and demonstrate that the De Vere roundabout is a practical size and location.

"We are looking for a gateway and the roundabout is on one of the key routes into the city."

He said the background of the waterfront and old walls provided the perfect combination to encapsulate Southampton.

"The Spitfire enjoys an iconic status around the world and I think it is unusual the city has not made more of it. Southampton has important links to the Spitfire as it was designed and built here and it had a huge impact during the Second World War."

The Southampton Partnership, made up of council and business representatives, will decide whether to spend £235,000 of money from the South East England Development Agency's on the project on Thursday.

Pivotal role The aircraft played a pivotal role in defeating the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in 1940, when Britain was threatened by invasion.

The prototype of the aircraft made its maiden flight from Eastleigh airfield in May 1936 paving the way for 22,000 of them to be built up until 1945, including 8,000 in Southampton.