SOURCES in the military aviation community have revealed to me that "some consideration is being given to moving assets out of RAF Odiham and into RAF Lyneham".

This means helicopters the noisiest and most irritating flying machines known to civilised society.

A fast jet is noisy and gone in an instant, a Chinook is slow and ponderous and is audible for ages.

The thought of such helicopters occupying the airspace around Wootton Bassett and Swindon has me reaching for the packing cases.

But wait, could this be a coup for Tony Blair's next election campaign? The well-to-do in the RAF Odiham area have long campaigned to have Odiham's rotary residents removed and peace restored to their neighbourhood.

Church bells would be rung joyfully in Basingstoke, Fleet, Hook and Church Crookham in affluent Hampshire.

Is this a cunning plan to unseat the sitting MP for Basingstoke, Andrew Hunter, an independent Conservative with a majority of only 880 at the 2001 election?

Grateful residents would surely reward Labour for a promise of peace in the air and increased value to their properties. The loss of an RAF station's worth to the community is a small price to pay.

Or is this move designed to outflank James Gray, the North Wiltshire MP for the Lyneham area who campaigned steadfastly to save RAF Lyneham from closure and now works to secure an alternative role for the base and its community?

Mr Gray could hardly offer any objection to the re-location of noisy helicopters in view of his desire for continued activity at the base.

Would his constituents thank him for bringing a noise nuisance to the area in place of the Hercules, to which they had become accustomed? Mr Gray defends a majority of 3,878 from 2001 not unassailable.

It seems to me that Mr Blair has much to gain.

Ian Miller

Grange Park