Sorry, this video asset has been removed.

Work has started on clearing land around the Bleriot memorial at Dover ahead of the celebrations to mark the centenary of the French aviator's pioneering flight.

It was 100 years ago this July that Louis Bleriot made the first solo flight across the Channel from France to England, landing in what was then an open field, called Northfall Meadow, behind Dover Castle.

A memorial in the shape of his plane was established on the site which has since become overgrown with trees and is hardly visible to people going by. Only a signpost indicates where the historic landing took place.

Watch: See how the Bleriot memorial has had a spruce-up in advance of the centenary celebrations, at the top of this page>>>

Two days of celebrations, including a display by the Red Arrows, will take place this summer to mark the centenary and the area around the Bleriot memorial, just off Upper Road, is being cleared to open it up for all to see.

A spokesman for the district council said: "We are currently undertaking some tree clearance work in the area between Dover Castle and the Bleriot Memorial. We are working closely with the council's Ecology Officer and English Heritage.

"This is in advance of a planning application for a range of proposed improvement works around the Bleriot Memorial, which is due to be submitted in the near future."

An airline pilot plans to recreate the original flight in a Bleriot monoplane. Swede Mikael Carlson, 49, is captain of a Boeing 737. A procession of aeroplanes will fly from Calais to Dover forming part of an air pageant marking the anniversary.