It is one of the most recognisable parts of an iconic passenger plane which last flew almost eight years ago.

But a private collector has bought a unique tribute to the British Airways Concorde, after purchasing its nose cone as a decoration for his home.

The buyer paid £100,000 for the plane's 'droop nose' - lowered during take-off and landing to help the pilot's view.

The collector also chose to remain anonymous - perhaps a wise decision as it emerged he has yet to tell his wife about the unusual decoration.

It also means one antique dealer has made a sky-high profit. The artefact was sold by Andrew Lamberty, 41, who picked it up for £55,000 from the curator of the British Airways museum, Paul Jarvis.

Mr Jarvis had taken it onto Channel 4 show Four Rooms to raise funds.

Mr Lamberty was quickly able to sell it on to the property businessman, one of his regular customers, who wanted to remain anonymous.

'It’s definitely going to retain its value. It’s a very, very rare thing. It’s a great piece of British history,' said Mr Lamberty.

'It looks super-cool — it’s a real piece of James Bond-style finishing.'
Sky-high profit: Art dealer Andrew Lamberty paid £55,000 for the nose cone before selling it on for nearly twice that amount

Sky-high profit: Art dealer Andrew Lamberty paid £55,000 for the nose cone before selling it on for nearly twice that amount

Grounded for good: The last commercial Concorde flight was in October 2003

One of four experts on the show who compete to secure deals on items brought in by sellers, he recalled that the same Concorde nose cone had once been valued at £320,000 shortly after the supersonic jet was retired in 2003.

Mr Lamberty said the buyer 'called me straight away after the show and came to see me the next day. We settled on a reasonable price'.

He believes the nose cone, one of two spares that BA had owned, would be the last to come to market: 'It’s a very nice object in itself. Often when things are designed to go at high speed, they’re often very beautiful too.

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