A CAMPAIGN to save the 'Queen of the Skies' has taken a step in the right direction.

The Save Concorde Group, set up after Concorde 216 made its final flight to Filton in November, has stepped up pressure to keep the super-fast jet in the air.

At a meeting at Cribbs Business Centre the group was told there is no technological reason why the supersonic plane should not continue to fly until at least 2017.

Former senior flight engineer for Concorde Ian Kirby said the aircraft could fly again but at an estimated cost of £1.5 million. However, the Civil Aviation Authority and British Airways, which owns Concorde, still need to be persuaded that getting the 'great white bird' flying again is feasible and worthwhile.

However, the group now has more than 6,000 signatures in support of Concorde being used at airshows and national events before finally being placed in a museum.

The aircraft is being held at Airbus and preparations for an aerospace heritage centre are expected to be completed in the summer.

Supporters, including Phil Collins and Sir Terence Conran, are spread up and down the country but are prominent in South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire, where many workers made their living from the plane, now renowned for its luxurious image.

Despite growing pressure for Concorde to take to the skies again, campaign chairman Ross Mallett conceded it would never again carry champagne-drinking passengers or be used for commercial purposes.

He did pledge that the group will now "do everything" to get Concorde airborne .

Mr Mallett, a management accountant based in Staffordshire, said: "This is an innovative scheme. We aim to raise the money to enable it to return to flight. Concorde is for flying and not for museums. The aircraft must continue to be a focus of love and pride for the whole nation."

The group aims to preserve all Concordes woldwide and to promote interest in a successor.

Mr Mallett added the Save Concorde Group had been overwhelmed by the reaction of people, many of whom had first thought such a proposal impossible, but who were now fully supportive.

He said: "We are now rallying wide public support for this new initiative where the public will become the stakeholder and funding source to get Concorde into the air again. Now it has started the campaign must be kept on the boil."

Supporters are invited to become actively involved in the campaign or to make a donation, by logging on to www.save-concorde.co.uk