Doncaster Sheffield Airport assets being stripped, says mayor

Critical assets are being stripped from Doncaster Sheffield Airport ahead of its proposed closure, a mayor has said.

Doncaster's Ros Jones said it was "totally unacceptable" and, if true, she would consider legal action against the airport's owners, Peel Group.

A Peel Group spokesperson said it had begun "winding down provision of aviation services and facilitating an orderly managed closure".

The group had received "no credible proposal" for the site, they added.

Last month, Peel had said operations would wind down at the airport from the end of October as it was not financially viable.

On Tuesday, Labour's Ros Jones said: "We have been made aware that Peel has apparently started to degrade the site by stripping out critical assets to the operation of the airport, therefore potentially making it unusable and unsellable.

"This is totally unacceptable when we have brought potential buyers to their door and conversations are ongoing."

She said if Peel did not confirm it would not begin to wind down the site, she had instructed council officers to apply for a court injunction.

"I have written to Peel setting this legal action out and that they must pause the airport closure so a sale can be agreed and jobs saved."

She said she had given the group until 16:00 BST on Tuesday to respond.

Ms Jones had previously said if no agreement was reached on the airport's future, the council would initiate the process for a Compulsory Purchase Order, but said that would not save the airport as it would take up to two years and only buy the land.

She said it was clear to her and council officers the airport was viable if "operated and managed correctly".

"If that was not the case, why have we found other interested parties who want to take it on and run it as a thriving successful airport?"

She said the council's offer of £7m to underwrite losses for two years still stood.

In a statement, Peel said it had "met with every party that the local authority has made an introduction to who have been willing to meet".

"Despite this, no credible proposal regarding the ownership of, or addressing the lack of financial viability of, DSA has yet been provided.

"In addition, DSA has received no approaches from any new airline to operate from the airport," the group said.

Peel said it had offered "significant financial incentivisation" to new airlines and had "pursued all viable commercial aviation opportunities at DSA".

A spokesperson added that it had invested £250m in private capital since opening in 2005, but to date the airport had never made any profit due to competition from other regional airports.

"Going forward, we intend to continue working closely with local and national stakeholders to develop a forward-thinking strategy for the airport site...to help unlock vibrant, job-creating alternatives to ensure future growth and prosperity," they added.

On Monday, Labour MPs accused the government of not doing enough for the site, during a debate on the airport.

Stephanie Peacock, Labour MP for Barnsley East, said the airport was a valuable regional economic asset and "thousands of jobs" depended on it.

She said investors needed certainty in the next 24 hours.

"It is now imperative that ministers step up, take action and use their powers to do everything that they can to save Doncaster Sheffield Airport," she said.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, said the government had refused to meet South Yorkshire's Mayor Oliver Coppard and other regional leaders.

Transport minister Katherine Fletcher said ministers had met with the airport owners and they were "open to meet with potential investors".

"The implication that we are not doing everything to find a solution for regional airports that we recognise are incredibly important is not a correct one," she added.

"What we need is for Peel Group to sit down with the commercial people and that is what they have promised to do when they sat down with the aviation minister on October 19."

The Conservative MP for Don Valley Nick Fletcher criticised South Yorkshire's Mayoral Combined Authority, which had been "sadly lacking for over three years".

Mr Fletcher said: "If the combined authority had done their job properly we would not be sat in this position now."

A number of Labour MPs also urged the government to use the Civil Contingencies Act to buy the airport, but the minister said that was for "absolute emergencies only".

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or send video here.