AN RAF base near Selby will close by the end of the year amid cost-cutting measures by defence chiefs who say it is no longer needed.

Armed Forces Minister Andrew Robathan confirmed the fate of RAF Church Fenton in a written statement to Parliament today about the Government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).

Units based at Church Fenton, including the Yorkshire University Air Squadron (YUAS), will relocate to other bases, with Mr Robathan saying work was “ongoing” to decide what will be the “optimum location” for the squadron. Five service personnel from the Busk Lane base will be redeployed to other duties elsewhere, and three Ministry of Defence civilians will also be affected by the closure.

RAF Church Fenton housed the first RAF Eagle Squadron of American volunteers in 1940 and provided protection for industrial heartlands in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Humberside during the Second World War. It had opened three years previously and some of the squadrons based there flew the famed de Havilland Mosquito fighter.

It retained its status as a fighter base after the war, but by the 1960s it was primarily used for training purposes. Much of the base has become derelict and been fenced off over the last 20 years, although its operational airfield, runway, hangars and administrative and air traffic control buildings remain for training purposes.

Mr Robathan said the SDSR, launched in 2010, had “identified the need for rationalisation of the defence estate”, including selling surplus land and buildings and reducing running costs, and Church Fenton was no longer required because of “reductions in the flying training pipeline”.

He said service and civilian personnel at the bases, as well as others affected by the review, would be briefed and trade unions would be consulted before “detailed planning” took place.

Last April, a planning application for up to 65 homes and a commercial development at the RAF base was turned down by Selby District Council. The authority is due to make a decision shortly on plans for 28 homes on land formerly occupied by the officers’ mess.