Wooden wing sections from a World War I biplane have been saved by RAF conservation experts – after being spotted propping up a garage roof.

It is not known how several parts of the Handley Page O/400 bomber ended up at business premises in Connah’s Quay in Flintshire, north Wales. But experts based at the RAF Museum in Cosford are sure the 7.6-metre wooden artefacts originally formed part of the lower wings of the historic aircraft.

Members of the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at RAF Cosford were first alerted to the existence of the wing parts in April, in an e-mail suggesting the roof of a building due for demolition had been constructed using components from a World War II Wellington bomber.

However, the museum’s curatorial staff instantly recognised the wings were from a much earlier aircraft.

Senior curator Al McLean said: “A visit to the site revealed that these were wooden wings with a type of construction known as box spars.

“This suggested that the aircraft dated from the latter part of World War I and given the size of them, there were only a few aircraft types they could have originated from.”

The garage’s owner, Alan Sullivan, then allowed RAF museum staff to remove the wing parts while the site was being cleared for development.

Originally ordered as an improved version of the Royal Naval Air Service’s O/100, the twin-engined O/400 became the Royal Air Force’s standard heavy bomber during the closing months of World War I.