A POLICE centre which has trained thousands of officers to tackle emergencies such as terror attacks has been ordered off its current site.

Thames Valley Police's base at Upper Heyford airfield has taught the force's 4,200 officers how to deal with major incidents including riots, protests and nuclear attacks.

But now officers have been told the centre damages the character of the former Cold War base and have been given 12 months to leave by Cherwell District Council.

Thames Valley Police spokesman James Clements said the force was looking for new sites and might have to relocate the centre outside Oxfordshire.

He said: "Virtually every officer in Thames Valley Police will have visited Upper Heyford at some point. It's pretty much the nerve centre of a lot of our public order training.

"The advantage of the site is it's open - it's not close to any other buildings or any other members of the public. It's ideal for our needs. In an ideal world we would love to stay."

The training centre, which also teaches firearms and driving skills, has been based there for 13 years and employs 12 permanent staff.

Cherwell also gave QEK, which stores thousands of cars on the base and employs 550 staff, 12 months to reduce its 'footprint' during a planning meeting.

QEK director Mark Wilkinson said: "We intend working with Cherwell and the North Oxfordshire Consortium to look at a long-term sustainable future for QEK at Heyford."

Cherwell District Council spokesman Sylvia Herbert said: "It is important to keep the stark foreboding character and appearance of the Cold War airbase, which has been designated a conservation area, and not clutter it up with the paraphernalia of a business park."

She added that businesses were aware when they moved to the site that it was on a temporary basis.

The North Oxfordshire Consortium housing group, which manages the site on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, hopes to submit a planning application for 1,000 houses on the base next month.

Chief executive Keith Watson said the application would not comply with Cherwell's strict guidelines and would include both Thames Valley Police and QEK staying on the site.

He said: "We are desperately trying to avoid a public inquiry, but Cherwell are not moving on their comprehensive planning brief."