Maze master plans to pay his tribute to The Few

To commemorate this year's 70th anniversary of The Few, the 30-acre field of maize is being cut out in the shape of a Spitfire as a tribute to the brave airmen. Previous designs have included an Astronaut, the Statue of Liberty, The Starship Enterprise and the Flying Scotsman.

Yesterday saw Mr Pearcy with a large model spitfire in the maize field with his GPS equipment cutting out the shape of the maze off Elvington Lane, York.

He said: "Each year I try to choose a maze design which is both topical and makes a great aerial image.

"Marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain is my tribute to the brave airmen, and all the forces personnel who served this country and continue to do so today."

The farmer uses the latest GPS satellite technology to plot out the maze pattern, and is cutting out the Spitfire design from the 1.5 million maze plants.

He continued: "It's a painstaking job to follow the GPS co-ordinates and takes about a week to cut out the 10km of pathways. Once the pathways are cut we just let nature go to work and grow the maize plants. By the time the maze opens they should be approaching 2m tall."

Since Mr Pearcy started York Maze in 2002 – as a diversification following the foot and mouth crisis – it has grown to become one of Yorkshire's most popular summer tourist attractions.