Security upgrades to Boscombe Down military base approved

A plane due to take asylum seekers to Rwanda had been scheduled to depart from Boscombe Down in July 2022 before being cancelled

The entrance to a military base will be upgraded after "security concerns".

The new Stockport Road entrance to the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Boscombe Down will have a security guard kiosk and reception building.

Fencing will also be improved at the Amesbury base, which is approximately eight miles (12.8km) north of Salisbury.

The first flight under the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda had been due to depart from the base in June 2022 before being cancelled.

Wiltshire Council has approved the plans which the MoD application stated would "mitigate security concerns" and ease congestion at the main gate.

The base is a military aircraft testing site and the RAF Base Support Squadron provides administrative support to the military lodger units at the site, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.