The only Hurricane aircraft from the Battle of Britain that is still airborne today took to the skies last weekend.

Visitors to the Little Gransden Air and Car Show watched a spectacular aerial display by the Hawker Hurricane Mark 1 R4118 which is credited with 49 Battle of Britain combat sorties and five kills.

In the cockpit was its owner Oxford software entrepreneur and aviation enthusiast James Brown, 50, who bought the plane in 2015.

It is widely regarded as the most historic British aircraft to survive in flying condition from the Second World War.

Mr Brown said: ”I attended the show for Children in Need and that was my first public display since gaining my authorisation.

“It's an incredible privilege to be flying this unique aircraft which is beautiful to fly but can be bit tricky, the flap and undercarriage controls can catch you out if you're not careful. It's like flying history.

“It’s very exciting – it’s a mixture of nerves and excitement. It’s a big, powerful aircraft and unique so you are always concerned that you take great care of it so it can fly tomorrow.”

Mr Brown, who is a private pilot, did 300 hours of training in old types of aircraft.

“To build up enough experience manage this single seat aircraft I did 200 hours in the Harvard which is a two-seat trainer and is quite similar to fly,” he said.

“It was a similar progression for pilots in the war as there weren't any Hurricane trainers around then."

The plane was built by the Gloster Aircraft company in 1940 and flew 49 sorties from Croydon during the Battle of Britain and shot down or damaged five enemy aircraft.

After being shot down herself on 22 October 1940, she was rebuilt and again saw active combat before being used primarily as a training aircraft for a period.

In December 1943, the aircraft was shipped to India but was never needed and remained in its packing case in Bombay until 1947 when it was donated to Varanasi university for engineering instruction.

The fuselage, propeller, wings and tailplane were laid on the ground in a compound and remained, exposed to the elements until 1996, when Peter Vacher, a retired British businessman discovered her, negotiated her return to the UK and had her meticulously restored to her 1940 condition.

Some 14 years later after many appearances at UK airshows she was put up for sale with a £2m price tag.

Despite fears she would be sold abroad, she was snapped up by Mr Brown who flies the aircraft recreationally and for air shows, and will appear at Abingdon Air Show on September 11.

He keeps the aircraft at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambs, but often heads off to various small airfields around the UK.

He recently flew up to Kirkbride airfield in Scotland which is the closest he could get to the wartime RAF airfield of Silloth where R4118 was based in the Second World War.

A crowd of around 60 people were there to greet him as he sometimes publishes his flights in advance on social media.

Little Gransden Air and Car show founder Dave Poile said: “The event, now in its 29th year, raised around £350,000 for the appeal and local good causes.”