THE closure of RAF Linton-on-Ouse would “devastate” the village according to local businesses.

As reported in yesterday’s Press, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is examining closing RAF Linton, along with RAF Leeming, as part of a cost-cutting exercise which would see 10,000 staff facing the axe nationally.

Residents say the closure of the air base, which is the initial training centre for all the RAF’s pilots, would be a disaster for the village.

Around 700 jobs on the RAF base would be lost and those people bring a lot to the village, both financially, but also socially. For the county as a whole it is estimated the base generates around £25 million for the economy.

Lisa Browne, who with her husband owns the village shop, said without the air base their business would be financially unviable.

She said: “For us as a shop it would close us. A lot of the elderly villagers are quite concerned because if we can’t survive it means they won’t have a shop in the village.”

“The camp also holds social events. For OAPs they do a meal at Christmas time and they do a lot of social events for children.

“Also if they shut it what would they do with the MoD houses?”

At the village pub, the College Arms, landlord Peter Weedock said he estimated around 40 per cent of the village relied on the base for their living. Like Mrs Browne at the shop, he was doubtful the pub would have a future without the air base.

He said: “At the moment things are really tight enough. If it closed down it would devastate the whole village. I think you’re looking at a level of about 40 per cent of the village economy job-wise.

“We don’t get as many RAF personnel in now as a lot are civilians, but I can’t imagine what it would do to the village. “We would have to think about doing something drastic ourselves, it might finish us off altogether.”

The air base previously hit the headlines in February of last year when Prince William arrived for flight training.

But rumours about its future have been around since October 2007 when The Press reported that MoD officials were looking at axing the airbase, something that was denied by the base’s then commander, Group Captain Mark Hopkins.

At the time of going to press, no one at RAF Linton-on-Ouse was available for comment, although an MoD spokesman had previously said the closure of the base was only a possibility and nothing had been decided.