An aviation enthusiast who discovered an original World War I biplane in a garage in Cheddar hopes to rebuild it to flying condition, 90 years after it was commissioned by the Kingston Sopwith factory.

Nick Harris, an amateur pilot from Cheddar, Somerset, found the rare 1917 Sopwith Pup plane late last year, after a friend told him about a historic plane thought to be a Tiger Moth in the nearby village of Winscombe.

He stopped by the house on a whim and was shown the plane covered in bric-a-brac in the owner's garage.

There are flying replicas of Sopwith Pups and remains of originals in museums, but this biplane is unique as it may one day be able to fly.

Mr Harris said: "I was just astonished to see it, my mouth was opening and closing. The owner discovered it in a barn in 1978 and bought it as a pile of sticks.

"He is pretty keen on it but has not had the space to reassemble it. It is such a rare piece of history and we don't pay enough attention to the past."

After talking to aviation contacts, Mr Harris arranged for the Pup to go to a hangar in the Historic Flight Area in Yeovilton, Dorset, where he, the owner and three engineer friends hope to restore it to its former glory. It was moved on March 30.

"It is incredibly fascinating. This actual plane last flew at Hendon Aerial Derby in 1921, where it crashed, and no one had seen it since the 1920s," said Mr Harris.

Sir Thomas Sopwith opened Kingston's Sopwith factory in Canbury Park Road in 1912, and it produced fighter planes throughout World War I.

The factory closed in 1920, but Sir Thomas joined forces with Harry Hawker to reopen the factory as HG Hawker Engineering, cementing Kingston's place at the centre of the era's aviation industry.

Mr Harris's biplane was one of 150 Sopwith Pup planes which the Kingston factory commissioned in Coventry.

About 1,700 Pups were built during the war, and it was one of the first planes with a machine gun which could fire through the propeller. Before that, airmen fired rifles at enemy planes.

The pace of change was so rapid that the Pup became obsolete in 1918.

Mr Harris hopes the aircraft, which is missing its engine, will be back in airworthy condition in about 18 months. It will probably cost the group of enthusiasts at least a four-figure sum to restore.