THE announcement of the closure of RAF Lyneham couldn't come at a worse time for Becky Lockley.

Stationed at Lyneham with her husband, who is a member of the 47AD Army unit, 32-year-old Mrs Lockley has found the Lyneham community invaluable in providing a safe and stable environment for her mentally and physically disabled daughter Rosie, two.

"Lyneham has been wonderful for my family," said Mrs Lockley.

"Rosie has cerebral palsy, is registered blind and has profound learning disabilities, but since arriving here last September, we have had so much help and support from local people and the staff at the base.

"Our quarters here have been given £20,000 of adaptations to accommodate Rosie's needs and we are due to move in on July 19, but this news has just hit us for six.

"We have been told that my husband's future here should be secure, but we cannot guarantee that and we must face the prospect of eventually having to move away from all that we have built up here."

As well as the support Mrs Lockley receives from Meg Bundock and the team at the HIVE on the base, her daughter Rosie attends a special needs group on the base.

"We have put down roots in Lyneham. It is a lovely community and it is sad it is to close," said Mrs Lockley.

"All my family and I can do is hope that the Army will stay here and that we will be able to continue to build our life here."

RAF wife Angie Brooks, 36, said she had been dreading the news that the base would close.

"We have been at Lyneham for two years and during that time, I have taken on the running of the group for children with special needs, which my four-year-old daughter Lotti, who has cerebral palsy, attends," she said.

"Like many families, we have put down roots here. Our children are in local schools, one of my sons will sit his GCSEs next year and we feel settled. We were hoping to spend the remainder of my husband's career here, but now that looks unlikely.

"We hope he'll be stationed at Brize, but we don't know if that will happen we could go anywhere."

Fellow RAF wife Karen Wilson, 37, said she caught an inkling of Lyneham's fate because of the lack of money being spent on updating the married quarters.

"We came here from Brize Norton and when we left they were installing new kitchens and bathrooms into the homes there," she said. "When we got to Lyneham, we were told the same would happen here but it never has and I think that was a giveaway."