SPEED bumps near Brize Norton mean the corteges bearing the bodies of dead British soldiers must take rural roads instead of passing through Carterton, the Government claimed yesterday.

Previously it had been claimed the route could not pass through the town because repatriations usually take place on a Thursday, Carterton’s market day.

Other reasons have included a request by Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner to miss out the town because he was against a detour which might delay the cortege.

The Government plans to shut RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, and instead, the bodies of British soldiers will land at RAF Brize Norton. But once the hearses have left the base, they will travel along rural roads and not into Carterton.

Local people have launched a Facebook campaign and lobbied the Government with emails and letters claiming the move will make it difficult for local people to pay their respects.

Junior Defence Minister Andrew Robathan told the Commons yesterday that one of the potential difficulties was that the route into the town had speed bumps. He said there would be a £3.2m repatriation centre and a memorial garden at the base as well as private chapels of rest where the families of victims could see their loved ones for the last time.

Last night Jim Couchman, county councillor for Burford and Carterton, said the speed bumps had always featured as among reasons the cortege should avoid Carterton.