Battle to save air base begins

North Wiltshire MP Mr Gray visited the base on Monday and was told by Station Commander Steve Duffill that there was a chance operations could be amalgamated with RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, leaving Lyneham redundant in a few years' time.

The same day, Mr Gray received a letter from Defence Minister Adam Ingram, telling him a study was being undertaken to work out the feasability of keeping both RAF Lyneham and Brize Norton, and St Mawgan in Cornwall open, with the imminent arrival of a fleet of new A400M transport aircraft sometime in 2008.

If the Government's decision, likely to come in June, is to site the new planes at Brize, it is thought likely Lyneham will close.

"RAF Lyneham makes a contribution of some £18 million a year to the local community and employs a great many local civilian staff and I will certainly do everything in my power to argue against any such closure," said Mr Gray.

"The Government has ordered 25 A400M cargo planes and is considering whether to base them at Lyneham or RAF Brize Norton.

"If it is the latter, there is a good chance that the Hercules fleet may also move to Brize Norton with the consequence that Lyneham will close."

Mr Gray said he saw the closure of Lyneham as a huge mistake, both from his point of view as Shadow Defence Minister and as the constituency MP.

"This is something I will fight to the death," he said.

He has already written a Parliamentary question to Mr Ingram, asking for a reply by the end of this week.

"I want him to guarantee the future of Lyneham," he said, stressing the effect on employment and the local economy could be devastating.

Lyneham, Wiltshire's home of the Hercules, employs more than 5,000 people, including civilians and miltary personnel, and has been an active RAF base since 1941," said Mr Gray.

Station Cdr Duffill was unavailable to comment yesterday, but Acting Station Cdr Jack Russell said it was too early to know the consequences and definite decisions had yet to be made.

"From the station point of view this is normal business for the RAF.

"We are constantly looking at how things can be more effective. There is no mention yet of closing RAF Lyneham and we wouldn't know until June when the study is completed."

Wing Cdr Russell, however, accepted the consequences for the area could be vast if the station ended up closing. "I'm sure it would have a significant impact locally," he said. "We have a close relationship with the community and put a lot of money into its economy."

Rumours about the potential Lyneham move have been circulating on the Professional Pilots' Rumour Network website since Monday.

One person who commented on the site said he feared no capital would be put into Lyneham until a decision was made and suspected this was why the station's medical centre, which has been condemned because of faulty wiring and moved into an old barrack block, was expected to take six months to repair.

Mr Gray said people shouldn't panic unnecessarily but said avoiding action had to be taken now before the Government made any definite decisions.

"If this does happen, from what I understand it would not be before 2008, so I don't want local people to get too worried too soon about their jobs," he said.

"However it is important for local people to know this is what the Government are thinking about and to put some pressure to bear to save RAF Lyneham."

Wiltshire County Council leader Peter Chalke said: "I am well aware of the importance of Lyneham to the economy of Wiltshire and will be backing James Gray. When I first joined the county council there were 49 military bases in Wiltshire now that has been dramatically reduced by closures and we should not go any further."

North Wiltshire district councillor Allison Bucknell said: "It is hard to imagine Lyneham without the air force base.

"I am concerned about what would happen to the base itself, if it was closed. Potentially it is a brown field site and could end up developed."