Campaign launched to move historic Vulcan bomber up to 80 MILES away from Doncaster

The iconic Cold War aircraft based at Doncaster Sheffield Airport has recently been put into storage and closed to the public, while two thirds of staff from the Vulcan to the Sky Trust which maintains it are to be laid off.

The Trust made the shock announcement in January amid a funding crisis and called for members of the public to donate money so the plane can be put back on public view.

But now a petition has been launched calling for the Vulcan, also known as XH558, to be moved out of Doncaster to one of two aircraft museums - stationed 40 and 80 miles away from the town.

The petition, started by Mark Jones on the change.org website, has been supported by 199 people.

He described the aircraft being moved into storage as "a disgrace" and added: "The plane is part of Britain's history and should never have been grounded.

"To be based at an airport is not where any planes should be other than airliners.

"She should be kept either at Elvington Air Museum or Bruntingthorpe."

The Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial at Elvington, North Yorkshire, is about 40 miles from Doncaster, and Bruntingthorpe Aircraft Museum in Leicestershire is about 80 miles away.

The Vulcan was towed from its Hangar 3 public display area at the end of January and put into storage, while full-time Trust staff have been slimmed down from 22 to just eight.

The plane served as the UK's nuclear deterrent during the Cold War, and flew missions during the Falklands War.

It took to the skies for the final time 15 months ago after a farewell tour attended by thousands of people. The public had raised millions of pounds in recent years to keep it airborne.

The Trust and bosses at Doncaster Sheffield Airport now hope to reach an agreement on plans to build a new hangar at the airport, allowing resumption of tours, events, educational visits and engineering activities by the end of 2017.

Trust bosses have yet to comment on plans to move the Vulcan away from Doncaster.