FORMER RAF worker John Friend has branded as scandalous the decision not to prosecute anyone for alleged chemical testing on volunteers at the Porton Down MoD base.

Mr Friend, 61, of Sheldon Road, Chippenham, worked as a shorthand typist at RAF Upavon in the late 1950s.

During this time he was responsible for typing and publishing notices asking for volunteers to be used in tests that it was claim aimed to find a cure for the common cold at Porton Down.

It is alleged volunteers at the base on Salisbury Plain were exposed to poisonous chemicals such as CS Gas, mustard gas and hallucinogens.

Many former Porton Down veterans have suffered severe ill health following their experiences at the base and formed the Porton Down Veterans Support Group to seek the truth about the tests they were given.

Four years ago, Wiltshire police launched an investigation, called Operation Antler, into the allegations and passed their findings to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Now the CPS has announced that it did not have enough evidence to bring a criminal prosecution.

Mr Friend said: "I felt sick when I heard they weren't prosecuting.

"I recall those notices in Station Routine Orders as though it were today.

"They offered fully paid leave, free rail warrants and all accommodation and meals. It was, as they say, an offer you couldn't refuse.

"The Operation Antler team said they were unable to trace the SROs despite a four-year investigation.

"There are 400 members on the Porton Down Veterans Support Group. You're not telling me that with the accounts of 400 people there is insufficient evidence."

In a statement from the CPS, it said: "The CPS has given thorough and careful consideration to all the evidence submitted in a number of sample cases and has decided that it is insufficient to prosecute in those cases."

Wiltshire Constabulary chief constable Dame Elizabeth Neville has written to more than 700 former service personnel, or their next of kin, involved with Operation Antler.

Her letter outlined the work of the police investigation and the CPS decision not to prosecute.

The inquest into the death of Porton Down volunteer Ronald Maddison in 1953 is to due to begin on September 30.