Demolition proposals for historic WW2 hangars

Developers want to create an emergency services facility at the base

Three hangars at a historic air base, used as a key training facility in World War Two, could be demolished if plans go ahead.

Texas-based Bristow Group want to remove three single-storey hangars, a portable cabin and a shipping container from an unoccupied area of the active Walney Aerodrome, in Walney Island, Barrow.

Its project would make way for a seasonal base hangar, which would eventually be used as a search and rescue facility.

Westmorland and Furness Council is yet to make a decision on the plans due to an ongoing consultation period for demolition, which is scheduled to end on 11 September.

The aerodrome was used extensively by the RAF during World War Two.

The planning statement said that, if approved, the development would contribute "positively to the continued function and adaptation of the general aviation airfield", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bristow Group, described as a "leading global provider" of "vertical flight solutions", are proposing to erect a storage shed with an apron and taxi route to runway, access, parking and associated infrastructure as part of the plans.

Along with the destruction of the three metal hangars, the concrete stabs, foundations and hardships would be "broken up and passed through a concrete crusher".

"The proposal will provide an important light industrial use for the airfield before eventual conversion to an emergency services search and rescue facility," the statement said.

Any conversion would have to be considered under a separate planning application.