A ‘GATE-GUARDIAN’ plane that was beloved of residents in a village near Bicester will be available to see again at a museum in Salisbury.

Arncott's Tornado GR1 Plan, which was sat outside the MOD Bicester in the village since 2002, was due to be scrapped by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in July 2019 but was put on hold after it received opposition to the removal.

The plane was one of the first to come off the production line in 1979 and locals were so used to seeing it guard the RAF gates in the village that they did not want to see it go.

READ MORE: 'Going to be needed for long time,' says new community cafe founder

MOD said it was 'considering a number of options' for the future of the aircraft. However, after more than a year of deliberation, it was decided the plane should be refurbished and placed on display at an airfield museum in Salisbury rather than return it to Bicester.

The ZA319 will be able to be seen in the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum in Salisbury.

A team of volunteers have been working hard since November 2021 when the airframe arrived to refurbish the model ready for visitors.

An event is planned for Friday, March 17 and the museum hopes to invite members of the publish who helped save the plane from being scrapped.

READ MORE: New veterinary surgery planned after neighbours shun takeaway

If this was you, or you know someone involved, please contact the Oxford Mail.

-

Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Abingdon, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage.

Get in touch with her by emailing: gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @geeharland