Official end of RAF link to base

Many jobs at the RAF base will relocate to High Wycombe

A ceremony has been held to mark the final chapter of RAF Innsworth near Gloucester.

The air force is moving out to make way for Nato troops after nearly 70 years.

The site opened in 1940 as a training base for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. In 1994, it became the force's Personnel and Training Command centre.

Staff will relocate to RAF High Wycombe in Bucks as part of an efficiency drive. Thursday's ceremony marked the official end of the RAF at Innsworth.

It included a fly-past of Hawk jets and the lowering of the ensign.

Nato's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps will replace the RAF, bringing 4,000 people to the area between next year and 2011.

Wing Commander Carol Hobkirk said it was a day "tinged with sadness and pride, with an awful lot of emotion."