PLANS to axe a Hampshire Royal Navy shore establishment have been scrapped.

Proposals to close HMS Sultan in Gosport will not go ahead, the town's MP has said.

The future of the shore site in Gosport came under threat after the Ministry of Defence unveiled its ‘A Better Defence Review’ in 2016, which included plans to close 91 sites across the UK by 2024, including Gosport's.

In 2019, Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood told MPs that the disposal of HMS Sultan would be delayed until no earlier than 2029.

Now, plans have been dropped altogether.

The news was confirmed by Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, who received a letter from the Minister for Defence Procurement confirming the decision.

In social media post, the MP said: “I relentlessly campaigned against the closure of Sultan, meeting with the then Secretary of State for Defence and bringing Defence Ministers to Gosport to see first-hand how disastrous its loss would be to the Royal Navy, the MOD and the Gosport Constituency.

“In a recent letter from the Minister of State for Defence Procurement, Alec Chalk KC MP, I have been advised that the MOD no longer intends to dispose of HMS Sultan, which is a huge relief and great news for Gosport!”

HMS Sultan hosts the Defence School of Marine Engineering and the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School.

Its primary function is to supply engineering officers to the naval teams.

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