A HAMPSHIRE MP is backing calls for a wartime airfield in the New Forest to be given a proper memorial and not left in "a horrible mess."

New Forest East MP Dr Julian Lewis says workers who removed concrete from Stoney Cross airfield in the past had left unsightly rubble at the site. Now he is concerned new works will create an even bigger eyesore.

Dr Lewis made his plea at a meeting of the New Forest Verderers Court at Lyndhurst.

The MP - a highly-respected authority on the Royal Air Force - was backing calls by the New Forest Aviation Group for some of the concrete to be left in memory of the men who gave their lives for the war effort.

Group secretary Alan Brown told the verderers: "The removal of any further concrete will rob the Forest area of important examples and reminders of the New Forest's key role in World War Two. "These places are also places of pilgrimage for returning veterans.

"Of the three ex-airfields so much has already been taken away that only Stoney Cross has a full-width perimeter track - now to be removed."

Mr Brown added Hampshire County Council's archaeologist had expressed concerns to New Forest District Council over a potential danger to Bronze Age and Roman connections with the Fritham area and the loss of part of the national heritage.

A county council spokesman said: "We are asking the Forestry Commission if it really needs to do this.

"Second World War remains are becoming increasingly rare and because people tend to regard it as relatively modern, they sometimes tend to remove it without the thought which might be shown to remains from other periods of history," he added.

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