ONE of the biggest stars of Bournemouth Air Festival has been saved from being grounded.

A massive fundraising drive to drum up £400,000 by the end of October to keep the Vulcan bomber flying has been successful, said operators Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

Chief executive Dr Robert Pleming held a crunch meeting with trustees, which resulted in the board agreeing that there was enough cash to see Cold War jet XH558 through the winter and secure the jobs of those involved with its upkeep.

Dr Pleming said: “We have achieved a huge amount in the last few days and the board is now confident that we can move forward to a successful 2011.

“All the team are fully appreciative of the strength of this support and what it means to our future as custodians of XH558, not only in the immediate few months, but in our longer term planning.”

That includes finding a permanent home for the aircraft and planning for life after it retires from flying. The trust will be announcing more details soon.