The area around the spot where Louis Bleriot landed after his pioneering solo flight across the Channel is expected to be cleared and opened up in time for the centenary of the event next summer.

Northfall Meadow is where Bleriot landed his fragile plane on July 25, 1909, having taken off from Calais.

His success, where others failed, was put down to a shower of rain which cooled the plane’s over-heating engine as he neared the English coast.

A memorial, in the shape of the plane he flew, was created at the site, but since then trees have grown up across the area, and it is now virtually hidden from view.

Three days of celebrations are planned to mark the centenary next year, and it is planned to fell most of the trees, clear the area, and create more access paths from all directions so people can see and visit the monument more easily.

There are also calls for a memorial to Harriet Quimby, the first woman to fly solo across the Channel – from Dover to Calais – in July, 1912.