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Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust chairman taken to hospital after falling during Heinkel restoration

A museum boss has been taken to hospital after falling from scaffolding while helping to restore a rare Second World War bomber.

An air ambulance was called to the Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Aerodrome Road, Hawkinge at around 3.30pm following the accident.

Dave Brocklehurst at the Battle of Britain Museum. Stock image
Dave Brocklehurst at the Battle of Britain Museum. Stock image

The Trust which runs it put up a statement confirming chairman Dave Brocklehurst MBE had suffered a fall, but confirmed he was not seriously injured.

It said: "Sadly Dave had an argument with the scaffold, came off worse and is in hospital but in good spirits.

"We will post full updates as soon as we can.

"Dave has promised to have a few days off in the meantime."

Mr Brocklehurst was made an MBE in 2013 for services to English Heritage.

At the time of the accident he had been working on restoring a Heinkel He 111H-16 - a project which was completed this afternoon.

It is one of only two Heinkel He 111's in the country, and of those, the only bomber.

It was acquired from the Imperial War Museum in Duxford and the restoration work began in March.

The German planes were used during the Battle of Britain bombing campaigns, dropped torpedos in the Atlantic and Arctic, and also led attacks on the Western, Eastern, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and North African fronts during the Second World War.

The museum, which boasts the world's largest Battle of Britain collection of memorabilia, including artefacts from more than 700 crashed aircraft, is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, bosses have indicated they would like to reopen on July 4 if legally able to do so.

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