Permanent Concorde home at Filton airfield moves closer

Concorde 216 - or Alpha Foxtrot - was the last of the fleet to fly at supersonic speed

A permanent home for Concorde at Filton Airfield has taken a step closer with £243,600 of lottery funding.

The Bristol Aero Collection Trust is in the process of raising £13m to build an aviation museum at the airfield near Bristol, which closed last year.

The development cash will help the trust apply for £4.4m from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the Bristol Aerospace Centre project.

Two WWI hangars will also be refurbished as part of the museum.

Concorde 216 has been parked uncovered at the airfield since its final supersonic flight in 2003.

Bristol Aero Collection Trust now has two years to come up with more details to secure the Heritage Lottery funding.

Project director Lloyd Burnell said: "Concorde is a symbol of British engineering and design brilliance. It's something that people in the Bristol region are immensely proud of.

"It's been outside since 2003 and it's right and proper that we find a fitting home for Concorde at Filton."

Concorde was largely designed and built at Filton, with the first British flight taking off in 1969 and the final supersonic flight of any Concorde in the world landing at the airfield in 2003.