Baroness Thatcher met a Vulcan crew at the project

A team of engineers at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire have spent nine years restoring the bomber.

It is hoped the aircraft will return to the skies in June to mark the anniversary of the Argentine invasion.

Baroness Thatcher also met crews during the visit that flew the planes in the 74-day conflict.

'Nuclear deterrent'

Robert Pleming, project manager for the Vulcan restoration, said: "It's really quite an occasion for us because we've managed to assemble the crews that flew out to the Falkland Islands and she'll be meeting them for the first time.

"The Falklands War was the first and only time that the Vulcan was used in combat. Its original role was as a nuclear deterrent in the 50s and 60s - it's a very famous aircraft and we're delighted we've got within a month or two of actually flying it."

He said the plane was due to undergo a test flight within the next few months.

Argentina's invasion, on 2 April 1982, followed friction between the two countries dating back to 1833, when Britain claimed the islands in the south Atlantic.

But the British government decided it would fight to reclaim them and Mrs Thatcher dismissed advice from defence officials who feared the islands could not be re-taken.

She ordered a task force to be assembled to fight a war 8,000 miles away from the British Isles.