ONE of Britain's best-loved aircraft, designed in the 1920s by an aviation firm in Hampshire, looks set to be saved from the scrapheap thanks to a lottery grant of more than £2.7m.

The Vulcan to the Sky campaign aimed to restore Britain's last remaining Vulcan bomber at a cost of £3.97m.

And thanks to a £2.7m Heritage Lottery grant, campaigners from across Hampshire are celebrating as their dream draws closer to reality.

The Avro Vulcan XH558 provided a nuclear deterrent against the Soviet Bloc at the end of the Second World War.

Its basic design was first laid down at the former Avro aircraft works in Hamble by the company's chief designer, Roy Chadwick from Lancashire, who created the Lancaster bomber.

But Mr Chadwick, who worked in Hamble from around 1918 until returning to Lancashire in 1928, never saw his designs bought to life. He was killed during an Avro Vulcan test flight in 1947.

The Vulcan to the Sky campaign was set up seven years ago by Dr Robert Pleming, an engineer from Alresford near Winchester. Dr Pleming and his team of enthusiasts have raised £850,000 during the past year alone.

After being withdrawn from air shows across the UK in 1993, the Vulcan faced an uncertain future in an aircraft hangar in Leicestershire.

Dr Pleming said: "This is indeed history in the making. Although we have thought this day would come it seems to have taken forever and it is hard to believe that at last we can commence the work on XH558 to return her back to her rightful place in the sky.

"Emotions are running high but we will soon come back to earth and begin the very serious work of recreating an airworthy Vulcan."