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Spitfire restored at Thruxton fetched £1.7 million at this weeks auction at an RAF museum in Hendon.

The two-seater Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire Tr Mark IX was bought on Monday by adventurer Steve Brooks who was the first person to fly pole-to-pole by helicopter, landing in Antarctica in January 2005.

He was also the first person to drive across the Bering Strait from America to Russia in 2002.

The Spitfire was originally sold in 1948 to the South African Air Force and later discovered in a Cape Town scrap yard in the 1970s.

It was rescued by the late building developer and aviation enthusiast Charles Church who initiated the long process of restoration.

It passed through several owners before ending its journey at Classic Aero Engineering in Thruxton, which was commissioned to complete the restoration.

Mr Brooks spent £1,739,500 on the iconic piece of British history, which is the first two-seater Mk IX Spitfire to be offered at public auction for over 20 years.