Peace for villagers as US bombers leave UK airbase

Residents have welcomed the American military pulling out from a UK military base after months of noise and disruption.

The US has withdrawn all of its planes from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, which it has been using for airstrikes on Iran since March.

A major incident near the base last week is still being investigated by counter-terror police. Six men were arrested on suspicion of terror offences and released on bail, and dozens of homes in Whelford were evacuated.

District councillor Tristan Wilkinson said recent months had been "particularly difficult", but he hoped the relationship with the American military, which boosts the local economy, continues for decades to come.

Councillor Wilkinson, who represents Whelford on Cotswold District Council, said the events of last week were like "a plot line from Slow Horses", a spy thriller TV series.

"When everybody has calmed down, I think the ongoing relationship with our American neighbours is something we need to think about quite carefully," he said.

"The last few months have been particularly difficult. The noise levels have been high and they've been operating 24 hours a day."

But Wilkinson said the base provides a significant boost to the local economy as the US military commits to spend hundreds of millions of pounds every year.

"We want a long-term relationship and to be good neighbours with the Americans going forward," he said.

"The link between Fairford and the American military goes back decades and I hope it goes forward decades too."

The base, located on the border of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, was opened in January 1944 and has been an important base for US military operations since the Cold War.

Geoff Lawson, who lives in Kempsford, said: "I'm quite pleased they're gone because it's been quite noisy."

He said that although "peace has returned", some residents would miss the bombers being based on their doorsteps.

"In this area, people are either for it or against it," he said. "When we moved here, none of this has been going on, but since it started it has been very invasive."

Ruth Foxman, who lives in Whelford, said she was "really pleased" about the Americans withdrawing from the base.

"If it's permanent, it will be fantastic. If it's temporary, it's a good reprieve from the house-shaking noises every couple of hours," she said.

The pollution had been "absolutely foul", she added, and the area had been invaded by plane spotters since the base started being used for airstrikes in Iran in March.

"A big operation like this has been a real strain on people from the noise," she said.

Residents felt "isolated" and "abandoned" after being evacuated on the Sunday morning, when there was a "complete lack of information" from the authorities, she added.

Residents living near RAF Fairford told the BBC last week they had been "left feeling like sitting ducks" after the incident on their doorsteps.

Locals described an "uneasiness in the air" in the days leading up to it, while some criticised the lack of communication from authorities.

"Regardless of if this was a dummy run, staged, a real threat or something entirely different - the lack of correspondence and care towards locals from a huge military base right next door is what feels most concerning to me," said one local resident.

Another couple said their child had been left traumatised after witnessing armed police point a gun at their father.

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