Bomb range staff to remain.AN MP in the North has been given assurances that a team dedicated to making safe old weapons is not about to be pulled out. Goswick Sands, near Berwick in Northumberland, was used as an RAF bombing range A bombing range is an area used for testing explosive ordnance and practicing to accurately direct them to the target. Bombing ranges are used for munitions that either explode or produce too much destruction to use at a shooting range, such as kinetic energy penetrators or very during the Second World War and for the past 14 years a systematic clearance of the site has been under way. The Ministry of Defence recently launched a review of the facility as part of an investigation into clearance of former ranges. Sir Alan Beith Alan James Beith (born April 20, 1943), is a British politician, and the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed. Early life Alan Beith was born in 1943 in Cheshire into a working class Conservative family. , Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Noun a member or supporter of the Liberal Democrats, a British centrist political party that advocates proportional representation Liberal Democrat n (BRIT) → MP for Berwick, raised concerns after learning of the review. But Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has written to Mr Beith, saying no decision has been taken over the Goswick team's future. Sir Alan said: "The strong tides around Holy Island mean the sands at Goswick are constantly shifting and items of debris regularly come to the surface, making clearance an ongoing task with the team on hand to identify metal objects found in the sands. "Without the on-site team, we could have a situation in which the bomb disposal team from Catterick are spending a great deal of time travelling up and down the A1, often to find they are being called out unnecessarily. "I am pleased that no decision has been reached and I will be taking a close interest in the Ministry of Defence's risk assessment which they have scheduled for early in 2010." CAPTION(S): INTEREST Sir Alan Beith. |
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