Listed building bid for Dambusters base amid asylum seeker plan

A council is seeking listed status for an officers mess building at former RAF Scampton - home of the fabled Dambusters squadron - amid government plans to house asylum seekers there.

The local authority has filed an application to Historic England over the old mess at the disused base in Lincolnshire.

It once provided social space and accommodation for Air Force personnel.

The council said the building was "deteriorating rapidly".

It added it wished to preserve an "important historical feature" of a site for which it had ambitions.

About 1,500 asylum seekers could be housed under plans for RAF Scampton near Lincoln where the 617 Squadron, or Dambusters, were formed - the unit famous for launching "bouncing bomb" raids against German infrastructure in World War Two.

The base - also home to the Red Arrows for more than 20 years - was recently closed to save the Ministry of Defence money.

West Lindsey District Council previously announced it had agreed a £300m plan to revive the site, with the scheme aiming to use the 800-acre location for aviation, heritage, tourism, education and research.

A group of four aircraft hangars at the site are already Grade-II listed.

The local authority said it was "considering all options and seeking legal advice" to "protect the redevelopment and regeneration" of RAF Scampton.

Sally Grindrod-Smith, the council's director of planning, regeneration and communities, said the authority was "very concerned about the future of the former officers mess".

She added: "The building appears to be deteriorating rapidly and without due care and attention this important historic feature of the site could be lost forever.

"That is why the council has taken decisive action and made an application to Historic England to seek listed building status."

The government is expected to make an announcement soon on how it plans to stop using hotels to house migrants, a practice to which some local authorities have objected.

The Home Office recently said it "continued to work across government and with local authorities to identify a range of accommodation options".

"The government remains committed to engaging with local authorities and key stakeholders as part of this process," a spokesperson said.

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