Here's when you can see a World War Two Spitfire in the skies over Northamptonshire on Friday

Heroes from a war still being waged will get a special thank you from a veteran of a war 80 years ago on in the skies over Northamptonshire today.

A World War Two Spitfire is due to fly past Northampton General Hospital as part of a special fund-raising fly-past of 19 healthcare sites.

The plane takes off from its base at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire at around 3pm and will be over Northampton around 15 minutes later.

People in parts of Wellingborough and Kettering, and also along the A45, could also get a good view of the historic plane — one of only 58 still flying — as it turns before heading off towards Peterborough.

The Spitfire PRXI PL983 is painted blue from its time serving in Europe with 4 Squadron doing wartime photo reconnaissance but now has "Thank U NHS" painted on the underside of its wings to mark the hard work of healthcare heroes during the Covid-19 crisis in the Health Service's 72nd year.

And for just a tenner — or a bit more if you can — you can nominate the name of a loved one, kind neighbour, family friend or front line worker, to be hand-written onto the famous old plane.

The Spitfire is owned by the Aircraft Restoration Company based at Duxford — which is also a site for the Imperial War Museum.

A spokesman for the company said: "It began with an idea to fly our beloved blue Spitfire around the local villages for the clap for carers evenings. We did and the response was utterly overwhelming.

"Being around the Spitfires so regularly can make it too easy to take for granted just what the sight and sound of this machine means to so many people.

"We just weren’t prepared for messages of support and gratitude that we received for that first flight and that paved the way for the development of the NHS Spitfire project.

"Now, over the next few months we will be carefully planning flight routes across UK local communities and hospitals.

"Each name nominated to be hand-written on will also help us together say thank you to the NHS by contributing to the NHS Charities Together charity.

"To nominate a name you simply need to visit our JustGiving page and donate a minimum of £10 along with the name of the person and the reason for the nomination. We will be adding the names throughout the Summer and sharing updates via our social media pages as the blue outer-surface of the Spitfire slowly begins to be covered in the names of our nations local heroes!"

The Spitfire has already raised £3,279 from last Sunday's first flight, arranged to mark the NHS' 72nd birthday.

Today's flights take in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk as well as Northamptonshire.