AMERICAN air-refuelling planes temporally based at an airbase near Swindon could be returning home far earlier than originally planned.

The aircraft arrived at RAF Fairford on March 1 having moved from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.

That base has been undergoing a major £9 million renovation, however the work is now nearly complete, ahead of schedule and final finishing work means the KC-135 tankers of 100th Air Refuelling Wing could depart as early as late July or early August.

Captain Shane Balken, spokesman for the refuelling squadron, said: "Things have been going really well with this deployment, and work at Mildenhall, has been on schedule or ahead of schedule mainly because of the good weather.

"We have had much support from Fairford and the local community and crews have been enjoying the Cotswold scenery.

The planes, along with 600 aircrew, were due to stay for six months Mildenhall's runway is resurfaced.

The old concrete surface, which was put down 15 years ago, had been worn smooth by years of aircraft landings, reducing the friction used to help the planes maintain direction and come to a controlled stop.

The 14 KC-135 aircraft of the 100th Air Refuelling Wing are used to refuel aircraft in flight, covering an area of responsibility stretching from the northern tip of Norway to the southern tip of Africa and all of Russia.