A Spitfire that is still airworthy is expected to fetch £1.5 million when it is sold at auction.

The fighter, built by the British Vickers-Armstrong company in 1944, will be the first two-seater Spitfire to be offered at public auction for more than 20 years when it comes up for sale at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon on April 20.

The plane was restored to flying condition by its late owner Paul Portelli, a collector of historic aircraft, during five years of work. The auction will be managed by Bonhams.

After the war, the Spitfire was sold by the RAF to the South African Air Force – and was rescued from a Cape Town scrapyard in the 1970s by a building developer and aviation enthusiast, Charles Church. Mr Portelli bought the plane in 2002 and commissioned an engineering firm based in Hampshire to restore it to its two-seater specification.

The supercharged Rolls-Royce engine was overhauled and returned to full working condition by specialists in Gloucestershire.

Robert Brooks, the chairman of Bonhams, said: “The sale of this Spitfire touches me personally as an enthusiastic amateur pilot and a keen student of military history. For Bonhams to be associated with this aircraft gives me particular pleasure . . . and not a little sincere pride.”

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