IRON Maiden rock god Bruce Dickinson has shelled out a small fortune to fly an endangered turtle to Spain.

The heavy metal singer’s personal plane flew Terri the turtle to the Canary Islands after she was washed up on a Jersey beach with a damaged shell and a nasty infection.

His generous offer came after a crowdfunding campaign raised €8,000 to rescue the reptile and fly her to Spain, where a sanctuary had offered to care for her.

She has now been flown to Gran Canaria from the New Era Veterinary Hospital, via Guernsey company Aeris Aviation, using Dickinson’s plane.

“A jet has become available at a far reduced price and with the donations at the hospital and online we have reached the price we need for the jet,” explained vet Peter Haworth,

“It shows how much one little turtle can bond people together. We had interest immediately from Dubai, Australia and America.”

Dickinson learned to fly aeroplanes after leaving the legendary metal band, whose hits include The Number of the Beast and Can I Play with Madness?