RARE warplanes will dominate the skyline of a prestigious castle during an historic global tour.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum will be flying their prized Avro Lancaster over Allerton Castle alongside the Royal Air Force's renowned Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) plane on September 6 as part of its tour of air shows, private events and flypasts.

The iconic Second World War bombers are the last two airworthy planes in existence and have already thrilled open-mouthed crowds around the country.

Lancasters were the main heavy bombers used by the RAF during the Second World War as crews risked their lives to fly daring missions over occupied Europe.

There were more than 7,000 of the aircraft produced between 1941 and 1946.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Lancaster deaprted from Hamilton, Ontario, on August 4 and arrived in England four days later.

The North Atlantic crossing indluded stops at Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, Narsarsuaq, Greenland, and Keflavik, Iceland, prior to arriving at the BBMF's base at RAF Coningsby.

Both Lancasters are scheduled to fly over the castle at 12.15pm on September 6 depsite the Canadian plane pulling out of this weekend's Bournemouth Airshow, but was forced to peform a precautionary engine shutdown during a show in Durham earlier this week.

Allerton Castle's grounds will be closed to the public during the ticket-only display.

For more information go to www.allertoncaste.co.uk