The remains of a Second World War pilot and his downed Lancaster bomber which dived into woodland have been discovered in a small German village.

For Ashford resident John Tutt it marks the end of decades of searching for his brother, Sgt Bernard Frederick Tutt, who died aged just 29.

It was thanks to John’s persistent investigations that he received a response to a letter he sent 11 years ago to the Burgermeister of Brandau, a small village 22 miles south east of Frankfurt where the plane came down.

Archaeology buff Felix Klingenbeck, 20, made the discovery after becoming interested in stories told by villagers about an English bomber that had crashed in the woods east of the village.

He found sections of the plane with serial numbers, which he posted online in the hope that someone would confirm the type of aircraft.