MILITARY ties in southern Oxfordshire will be severed as the Government announced its plan to sell some of the district’s key bases.

Communities will mourn the loss of long-standing military connections after the Ministry of Defence revealed Dalton Barracks near Abingdon and Vauxhall Barracks in Didcot will go up for sale.

The move, which will affect hundreds of servicemen and their families, is part of a review of 56 defence sites set to close by 2040 in a bid to save £140m.

Neil Porter, who worked at Dalton Barracks for the MoD for seven years, said 'part of Abingdon will be dead' when it shuts.

The 43-year-old said: "Abingdon is going to suffer – personally I think it’s disgusting. It’s a shame, if I had the money I would try to preserve some part of it. In 12 years we are going to be feeling the impact. We don’t want to see it built on with tens of thousands of houses.

“Abingdon and the town council needs to rally round, it’s really going to impact the community. It’s a strong military-orientated area. This is bad."

Mr Porter organises the annual Abingdon Air & Country Show at Abingdon Airfield, currently in its 17th year, and said it will probably stop running after the closure.

Peter Mockeridge was leader at Dalton’s 612 gliding squadron before it disbanded earlier this year.

He said: “It’s very disappointing. There were all sorts of rumours but I am surprised.”

The barracks is home to 3 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, 4 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps and 21 Military Intelligence Company including 2 Military Intelligence Battalion and are set to close in 2029.

About 950 personnel are based there and 260 personnel are based at Vauxhall Barracks.

The charity Felix Fund, which was set up in 2011 for servicemen and women returning from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, is also based at Vauxhall.

Melanie Moughton, chief executive of the charity, said the loss of the regiments would leave a hole in Didcot’s community.

She said: “It will be quite sad for the community as a whole, particularly Didcot.

“For Oxfordshire it will be quite strange to have such a reduction in the military personnel because they have always been here.

“People take them to their heart because they are the local army base and people tend to be a lot more supportive, they are a lot more aware.

“For those posted here it is really nice for them to be somewhere that has so much support for them.”

Miss Moughton said men and women in 11 EOD had had ‘a really tough time’ after six of their comrades died in Afghanistan.

She added: “There has always been that welcome feeling for them when they returned from their tours.

“They’ve had it really hard.”

The barracks is set to close in 2028 and 11 EOD and 421 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron are planned for relocation to MoD Kineton, near Warwick.

The future relocation of the remaining units has not been confirmed.