AN MP is to demand an assurance from the Government on the long-term future of RAF Leeming following the latest defence review.

Leeming is to lose one of its two squadrons of Tornado air defence fighters next year, remaining operations with the plane will end there by 2008 and uncertainty about the future of the base after that has increased with the news that it will not be receiving the new Eurofighter Typhoon as expected.

It was to have become the second base to get the Typhoon, a joint European venture which is already years behind schedule because of technical problems. That distinction will now go to Leuchars in Scotland.

The RAF will shed 7,500 jobs by 2008 under the review, announced by Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who said the aim was to make the forces "agile and high tech" in response to changing requirements, including the need to work with other agencies in meeting the threat of terrorism.

Because of less need for home air defence, 11 Squadron will be disbanded at Leeming on October 31 next year. The squadron, one of the oldest in the RAF, was the first to bring Tornadoes to Leeming in 1988.

The remaining Tornado squadron, 25, will remain at Leeming until 2008. It will then be equipped with the Typhoon at Leuchars, where other Tornadoes are based at present for air defence.

The changes will end 20 years of Tornado operations at Leeming, redeveloped at a cost of millions of pounds between 1984 and 1988 to plug a 225-mile gap in Britain's air defences.

Although its commanding officer stressed yesterday that there were no plans to close the base, Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh, whose constituency includes the base, was angered by the announcement, saying the Government had previously given assurances the future of Leeming was secure.

Stressing its importance to the local economy, she said: "RAF Leeming employs over 2,000 people and is the second largest employer in the Bedale area.

"I am shocked, as my constituents will be, that the Government has arbitrarily decided dramatically to downsize the base with no prior warning or consultation.

"I have written to Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram and tabled a series of Parliamentary questions to find out exactly how this review will affect my constituents, not just at RAF Leeming but at three other military bases in the Vale of York."

Group Capt Brian Bates, Leeming's commanding officer, said: "Rumours had been circulating for some time, so it was not a shock to some people here.

"Forces are being rebalanced to meet the challenges of this century. The Tornado was always due to be phased out at the end of the decade."

Group Capt Bates, whose father was in charge of Leeming during its major redevelopment from its previous role as a training base, added: "There are no plans to close the base. Its future role is unclear and will be considered again as part of a much wider review over the next year or so. It could take anything, including possibly helicopters."

Hambleton District Council leader Arthur Barker, whose Leeming ward includes the base, said yesterday: "I am concerned about the impact on the local economy should the number of personnel be reduced at Leeming.

"I am pleased there are currently no plans to close the base and I will be seeking urgent talks with the station commander with a view to discussing future plans."