Nick Wotherspoon is helping bring history to life - by tracking down and digging up planes that crashed during World War II.

But he spends hours poring over records and official flight paths before he can even get his hands dirty.

And it is the human element which appeals to Nick, who lives in Blackburn and joined an archaeology group in Bacup as a schoolboy.

His work with the Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team has played a crucial role in locating and excavating planes which crashed in the area during the Second World War.

And he has just published a book - North West Aircraft Wrecks - about the exploits of the team, which gives detailed accounts of some of the excavations and of the stories of the aircrew involved in the ill-fated missions.

The book also lists, for the first time, details of all the planes which crashed in the North West between 1939-1945 - several hundred aircraft.

"I think finding out about the men who flew the aircraft is as rewarding as finding the planes themselves," said Nick, 42, who lives with his wife and two sons in Yew Tree Drive.

"You certainly need a great deal of patience. At times it can be frustrating. But the rewards are there when you've done all your research and you discover something.

"We located a Spitfire that had crashed near Freckleton and found the pilot's wallet. It was soaked in oil which had preserved it and after conservation work we found a lock of the pilot's daughter's hair.

"Any personal finds have to go to the Ministry of Defence and I rang them up to see if they had traced the pilot's relatives. They said they couldn't and that the wallet was due to be incinerated.

"I told them to give me two weeks and I came up with the name and address of his wife.

"You cannot fail to be moved when you find something so personal. Every crash site has a human story to be told.

"The North West was the busiest area in the country," said Nick, a senior library assistant at Preston's Harris Library.

"Virtually all the training was done here and there were the two major American bases of Burtonwood and Warton. Every single American bomber regularly came to Lancashire to be serviced."

The 18 stories covered by the book reveal that many pilots lost their lives due to bad weather, lack of experience or mechanical failure rather than being shot down in action.

Once the team believes they have a case - and they have permission from the land-owner - an application has to be submitted to the Ministry of Defence to undertake a dig.

"The amount of paperwork involved is phenomenal," said Nick. "It can take ages."

All the investigation team are volunteers and receive no official funding for their work.

Nick said: "It's not a cheap hobby, that's for sure. My careers teacher said there was no future in it so I dabbled with metal detecting as a hobby.

"Then I saw a documentary on TV about them digging up a Hurricane and that really got my interest.

"I joined a group in Bacup and then 10 years ago decided to set up the investigation team."

l North West Aircraft Wrecks: New Insights in Dramatic Last Flights by Nick Wotherspoon is available now at £14.99 (Pen and Sword)