IT IS chocks away for plans for a permanent salute to an aviation legend which made its maiden flight from Eastleigh.

Councillors have given the green light for moves to commemorate the Spitfire near where it made its historic first flight.

The Eastleigh Local Area Committee has granted the council planning permission to put a sculpture of the famous prototype on the roundabout at the entrance to Southampton Airport at George Curl Way and Wide Lane.

The memorial sculpture will be a near full-size replica of the prototype designed by Reginald Mitchell that flew from the then Eastleigh Aerodrome in 1936.

The sculpture scheme will cost £70,000 and is on course to be unveiled on September 15.

The famous fighter plane, which was first designed and built at the Supermarine Factory in Woolston, Southampton, went on to play a key role during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.

Designed by Southampton artist Alan Manning, the sculpture has been made possible by developers' contributions - £15,000 each from schemes to build a hotel and a luxury car dealership alongside the airport - towards local art projects plus £40,000 from the local area committee.

Eastleigh Council has said that it wants the model in place in time for the anniversary of the Battle of Britain in September. The sculpture would also mark the centenary of powered flight.

In giving the go-ahead councillors had considered a report from planning officers which said: "This sculpture is a significant piece of public art sited on a prominent entrance to the borough, intended to celebrate the place of the Spitfire in local history."

Councillor Peter Wall, a long-standing supporter of a Spitfire memorial, said that the sculpture would be metal grey.

He said: "It is going to be the same colour as the original aircraft."

The first Spitfire took off from Eastleigh in 1936. Thousands were built before and during the Second World War.