Captain Mainwaring and Dad’s Army can once again be seen marching into battle against a Highland regiment once again, thanks to a response to the BBC appeal for return of some of the classic programmes "lost" from the archives.

And now two episodes of Dad’s Army, the British comedy classic that kept audiences entertained for years, have been recovered after more than 30 years.

The two programmes, featuring the familiar misadventures of Captain Mainwaring and the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard, went missing shortly after they were first broadcast in March 1969.

Contained in 19 film cans they somehow found their way on to a skip at Elstree Studio in the early 1970s.

A man working there rescued them and stored them at home for many years until his daughter insisted he get rid of the rusty old cans.

He passed them on to a friend, now in his eighties, who saw the BBC’s recent appeal for the return of old material and contacted the corporation.

While the containers were in a poor state, the film inside was in good condition and has now been transferred to digital format for permanent storage.

The two episodes are Operation Kilt, where the Home Guard take on a Highland regiment in manoeuvres with the aid of a pantomime cow, and The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage where Captain Mainwaring and co mistakenly think the Germans have invaded. A total of 80 episodes of the classic comedy were made.

David Croft, who produced and co-wrote the show, said he had been seeking the missing episodes for many years and once conducted a television appeal.

He said: "It’s been a long time, but I always knew they would turn up some day.

"Dad’s Army is still finding new fans among younger viewers, and I think the public will be as happy as I am if they get a chance to see these two episodes."

The BBC have described the find as a "smashing discovery" and they hope that it may encourage more people to hand in old material from the network.

Paul Fiander, head of BBC Information and Archives, said: "This is all we hoped for and more. People have been looking for those missing Dad’s Army episodes for years - there is even a book about them. They can now be conserved and preserved for future generations."

The BBC’s appeal for old material was launched last month with the corporation asking the public to send in any pre-1980 recordings of shows that they no longer have in the vaults.