Vulcan team's 24-hour cash dash

The team needs to raise £1m before 6 March to keep the plane flying

Fundraisers fighting to keep a restored Cold War bomber in the air are making a flying visit to the locations of all 15 Vulcan aircraft in the UK.

Engineers at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire have spent 15 years bringing the Vulcan back to life but the project is running out of money.

If the team cannot raise £1m before 6 March, the trust could be bankrupted.

They are attempting to visit locations including Norwich, Duxford and Southend in just 24 hours to gather donations.

The journey began at 0000 GMT at East Fortune, near Edinburgh.

The route then took the team of three to Sunderland, Carlisle, Woodford near Manchester, RAF Cosford near Wolverhampton and Wellesbourne near Warwick.

Falling sponsorship

The fundraising drive was then continuing to Coventry, Bruntingthorpe, East Midlands Airport, Newark, RAF Waddington near Lincoln, Norwich, Duxford near Cambridge, Hendon in North London and finally Southend at 2330 GMT on Sunday.

By 1700 GMT on Sunday, the team had received pledges totalling £50,000 towards the project and were on track to complete their challenge, with 13 Vulcans already under their belts.

The aim of the trip is to collect money from people who have turned out to see the team and their local Vulcan.

Vulcan XH558 was restored at Bruntingthorpe aerodrome with more than £2m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £5m in other donations.

The aircraft, which used to be based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, took part in several displays last summer in front of an estimated 1.5 million people.

But the costs of simply keeping the aircraft in flying condition - about £80,000 a month - have not been met because corporate sponsorship has been falling.