RAF Lossiemouth petition lands at 10 Downing Street

Campaigners delivered the petition to 10 Downing Street

A petition with more than 30,000 signatures aimed at saving RAF Lossiemouth has been delivered to 10 Downing Street.

The defence review last year signalled the end of RAF Kinloss and left the future of RAF Lossiemouth, both in Moray, in the balance.

The petition headed south on a "battle bus" from Moray overnight.

The signatures were handed over by a delegation on Tuesday afternoon.

Angus Robertson, the SNP defence spokesman and MP for Moray, said: "It's now almost three months since the defence secretary published the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

"Yet we are no further forward in getting any clarity around final base closure decisions or what support and assistance the UK government intend to provide to communities affected by closures or downsizing."

There have been reports recently that RAF Leuchars in Fife could close to allow RAF Lossiemouth to stay open.

The Ministry of Defence has consistently described such reports about decisions on specific closures as speculation.

It was announced that RAF Kinloss would shut after ministers cancelled orders for the new Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft.

The Moray Task Force has been set up to fight the loss of defence-related jobs in the local area.