Sale of former Dambusters home paused

RAF Woodhall Spa was once home to the famous 617 Dambusters squadron

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has paused the sale of a former World War Two RAF station in Lincolnshire while it reconsiders if the land may be needed for defence.

RAF Woodhall Spa was once home to the 617 Dambusters squadron, which launched raids on German dams from RAF Scampton, near Lincoln, in May 1943.

Parts of the site, which closed in 2003, were bought by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust in 2014, with the remainder of the land attracting interest from local councils.

A spokesperson for the MoD said: "The disposal of RAF Woodhall Spa has been paused while the RAF considers whether there is a longer term requirement for keeping the site open to support wider operational defence needs."

A memorial stone was unveiled at the former airfield in 2018

East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) both previously expressed interest in buying the remaining land, with possible uses including a holiday park, a crematorium, woodland burial ground or industrial redevelopment.

The site, which opened in 1942 as a satellite station to RAF Coningsby, was constructed on former farmland, and was later used to house missiles during the 1950s and 60s.

It was also from where Wing Cdr Gibson, who led the famous 'bouncing bomb' raids, died in a mysterious plane crash in 1944.

More recently, it was used as the location for an emergency mortuary during the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire County Council said: "Given the MoD decision to retain the site, the council is not pursuing the purchase... and will no longer lease the hangar when the temporary morgue is decommissioned."

The authority previously listed the mortuary as part of a review of council assets.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the site could be used to accommodate equipment, or other logistics, with the MoD due to notify any interested parties once a decision has been reached.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices