A GOVERNMENT department says a historic Stanmore air base should be preserved.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has acknowledged the importance of RAF Bentley Priory but is maintaining radio silence on the issue of funding for a museum due to be built there.

Hannah Fletcher, a spokesman for the department, said: “Whilst there is no enduring operational use for RAF Bentley Priory, the MoD has been clear that the heritage associated with the site should be preserved in a sustainable manner.”

The MoD came under fire yesterday after refusing to meet Harrow Council to discuss the possibility of Government funding for a museum intended to preserve the memory of “The Few”.

The RAF withdrew from the base in May last year, and the historic former home of Fighter Command was sold to developers.

The RAF Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust has since been fighting to get the museum set up in the most historic rooms of the Grade II* listed mansion at the heart of the base.

But as the Harrow Times exclusively revealed earlier this month, the project, which was due to be funded in large part by developers was mothballed after the collapse of a contract for the scheme.

It will now only be resurrected in a year at the earliest, when VSM Estates, who took over the lease, hope the property market will have recovered.

Councillor Marilyn Ashton, responsible for property at the council, slammed the MoD as “irresponsible” for the way it handled the sale of the base, claiming the department did not think about the heritage of the site.

She also called for Government funding for the museum, in the hope that would make the site more attractive to developers.